Published on October 3, 2024 at 5:44 p.m. / Modified on October 3, 2024 at 5:48 p.m.
OneWeb, Starlink, Beidou… Nowadays, thousands of satellites relay communications and observe the Earth from all angles. And yet, there is one area that remains relatively isolated from this network: the Arctic. Extremely sensitive to global warming, this dynamic region where atmospheric temperatures and humidity change very quickly nevertheless requires constant observation if we wish to fully understand everything that is happening there.
Hence the idea of dedicating a new constellation of satellites to it, a project which began to see the light of day in mid-August with the launch of a first prototype simply named “arctic weather satellite” (in English, Arctic Weather Satellite or AWS). “The idea is to have more frequent measurements,” says mission manager at the European Space Agency (ESA) Ville Tuomas Kangas. We can get this data in other ways, but it’s complicated. With a constellation it will be much easier, but with just as good quality.”
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