The Italian Space Agency renews its confidence in Thales Alenia Space which will contribute to NASA’s Surface Biology & Geology Earth observation mission.
This joint mission between the Italian (ASI) and American (NASA) space agencies, as well as NASA’s JPL (Jet Propulsion Laboratory), aims to better understand the geological and biological processes that occur on the Earth’s surface.
The Italian Space Agency (ASI) and Thales Alenia Space, a joint company between Thales (67%) and Leonardo (33%), have signed a contract for the implementation of the SBG-TIR Earth observation mission (Surface Biology & Geology – Thermal Infrared) from NASA. The signing of this contract follows an agreement signed in 2023 between ASI and NASA for the benefit of the SBG-TIR mission. It marks a key milestone in the historic collaboration between the two agencies and underlines the importance of international synergies in the face of universal challenges. The main objectives of this mission include, among others, providing radiometric and multispectral measurements of terrestrial and aquatic emissions for climatic, ecological and geological analysis, as well as supporting practical applications such as food security and management. water. The Thermal Infrared Radiometer (TIR), provided by NASA, and the Visible and Near Infrared (VNIR) camera, provided by ASI, will work together to ensure high quality observations that support the study of terrestrial and marine ecosystems, as well as the monitoring of water resources and phenomena linked to high temperatures such as forest fires and volcanic eruptions.
Who does what as part of this mission?
-Thanks to its consolidated technical expertise and proven experience in Earth observation missions, Thales Alenia Space will be responsible for the integration of the SBGTIR satellite by adapting the PRIMA-S platform to accommodate a TIR spectrometer, as well as carrying out the tests necessary for the success of the mission. The SBG-TIR satellite will also host the VIREO instrument designed by Leonardo jointly with the ASI to acquire contextual images in the VNIR spectrum. The PRIMA-S platform, derived from the HE-R1000 (High Efficiency Radar) solution, is part of Thales Alenia Space’s Earth observation product line, which includes both optical and radar satellites. Teodoro Valente, President of the Italian Space Agency, said: “The signing of this contract represents a major milestone in bilateral cooperation with NASA, and underlines our shared commitment to Earth observation and the development of space technologies contributing to climate and environmental monitoring on a global scale . By combining the capabilities of our COSMO-SkyMed and PRISMA satellites with new observations in the thermal infrared field, we will benefit from a clearer and more detailed vision of the state of health of our planet, and thus contribute to building a future better for future generations. »
« We are very proud to have signed this contract and extremely grateful to the Italian Space Agency for the opportunity it gives us to play a central role in this mission in collaboration with NASA and its research center, JPL », declared Giampiero Di Paolo, Deputy CEO, Senior Vice President of Observation, Exploration and Navigation activities of Thales Alenia Space. “ This cooperation offers Italy the opportunity to strengthen its capacities and skills in the field of Earth observation, for the benefit of the scientific community and the development of practical applications that will allow better management of environmental resources and better understand natural phenomena on a planetary scale. This contract means a lot to our company from a commercial point of view, as it confirms the flexibility of adaptation of our PRIMA-S platform to carry different types of payloads for the benefit of a wide range of missions in orbit. low land (LEO) and medium land (MEO). »
More specifically, ASI will collaborate with NASA in overall system management, payload integration and launch operations. The American agency will be responsible for the integration of the TIR instrument as a whole, which includes the OTTER sensor provided by NASA itself, and the Italian VIREO sensor which will be developed by Leonardo.
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