GomSpace and RAL Space jointly consolidating ESA's SCOUT challenge

Climate change is one of the most critical challenges humankind faces and it is urgent to provide scientists with all the data and tools needed to understand the complex system the Earth is.

The past 16th September was the World Ozone Day, commemorating the 35th anniversary of the Treaty of Vienna and 35 years of global ozone layer protection. It is clearer nowadays that climate change is one of the most critical challenges humankind faces and it is urgent to provide scientists with all the data and tools needed to understand the complex system the Earth is.

Understanding and quantifying the processes driving the change and particularly the role played by the atmosphere is necessary, and the CubeMAP mission has been designed to address this need. Over the last months, GomSpace and RAL Space (UK) have been jointly consolidating the mission as part of ESA's SCOUT challenge. The mission goal is to study, understand, and quantify processes in the tropical Upper Troposphere and Stratosphere (UTS), study its variability, and contribute to trends analysis in its composition and its effects on climate and vice-versa. The UTS composition plays a significant role in controlling the Earth’s climate, with still poorly explored feedbacks within the Earth System.

The team will present the mission and the findings to the ACEO (Advisory Committee for Earth Observation) members in October for the final evaluation and selection.