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ESA’s state-of-the-art Biomass satellite has launched aboard a Vega-C rocket from Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana. The rocket lifted off on 29 April 2025 at 11:15 CEST (06:15 local time).

In orbit, this latest Earth Explorer mission will provide vital insights into the health and dynamics of the world’s forests, revealing how they are changing over time and, critically, enhancing our understanding of their role in the global carbon cycle. It is the first satellite to carry a fully polarimetric P-band synthetic aperture radar for interferometric imaging. Thanks to the long wavelength of P-band, around 70 cm, the radar signal can slice through the whole forest layer to measure the ‘biomass’, meaning the woody trunks, branches and stems, which is where trees store most of their carbon.

Vega-C is the evolution of the Vega family of rockets and delivers increased performance, greater payload volume and improved competitiveness.

Access the related broadcast quality video material.

G2 navigation antenna

ESA’s state-of-the-art Biomass satellite launched aboard a Vega-C rocket from Europe’s Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana. The rocket lifted off on 29 April 2025 at 11:15 CEST (06:15 local time).

In orbit, this latest Earth Explorer mission will provide vital insights into the health and dynamics of the world’s forests, revealing how they are changing over time and, critically, enhancing our understanding of their role in the global carbon cycle. It is the first satellite to carry a fully polarimetric P-band synthetic aperture radar for interferometric imaging. Thanks to the long wavelength of P-band, around 70 cm, the radar signal can slice through the whole forest layer to measure the ‘biomass’, meaning the woody trunks, branches and stems, which is where trees store most of their carbon.

Vega-C is the evolution of the Vega family of rockets and delivers increased performance, greater payload volume and improved competitiveness.

Access the related broadcast quality video material.

ESA’s state-of-the-art Biomass satellite has launched aboard a Vega-C rocket from Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana. The rocket lifted off on 29 April 2025 at 11:15 CEST (06:15 local time).

In orbit, this latest Earth Explorer mission will provide vital insights into the health and dynamics of the world’s forests, revealing how they are changing over time and, critically, enhancing our understanding of their role in the global carbon cycle. It is the first satellite to carry a fully polarimetric P-band synthetic aperture radar for interferometric imaging. Thanks to the long wavelength of P-band, around 70 cm, the radar signal can slice through the whole forest layer to measure the ‘biomass’, meaning the woody trunks, branches and stems, which is where trees store most of their carbon.

Vega-C is the evolution of the Vega family of rockets and delivers increased performance, greater payload volume and improved competitiveness.

Access the related broadcast quality video material.

A view from the launch pad with Vega-C flight VV26 ready for liftoff as the mobile building that surrounds the rocket rolls away to reveal the rocket to the skies, 29 April 2025. On the rocket is ESA’s Biomass mission.

The mobile building allows Vega-C’s four stages to be assembled on the launch pad in security and offers protection from the elements. The 50-metre high structure weighs over 1000 tonnes, and a hydraulic system drives wheels on an 80-m rail track. The gantry is powered by two electric motors of some 70 kW capacity, these operate the hydraulic pumps supplying pressurised oil to six wheels.

Biomass is one of ESA’s Earth Explorer missions and, like other Earth Explorers, it uses advanced space technology to provide new data. Biomass will advance our understanding of forests and their importance in the carbon cycle and climate.

We already know that forests play a vital role in Earth’s carbon cycle by absorbing and storing large amounts of carbon dioxide. This helps to regulate the planet’s temperature. Data from Biomass will help us produce more accurate estimates of how much carbon is contained in forests' organic matter, or biomass, and reduce uncertainties in carbon stock and flux estimates, including those related to land-use change, forest loss, and regrowth.

Mission control GO for Biomass launch

The Atomic Clock Ensemble in Space (ACES), ESA’s state-of-the-art timekeeping facility, is now installed on the Columbus laboratory of the International Space Station. This still image, captured by external cameras on the Station, shows ACES after installation. For 25 years, cameras on the Station have documented activities in orbit, providing real-time views of operations like this one – a rare and remarkable perspective from space. 

On 25 April, the Canadian Space Agency’s robotic arm carefully extracted ACES from the SpaceX Dragon trunk and secured it onto the Columbus External Payload Facility, next to ESA’s space storm hunter ASIM (Atmospheric-Space Interactions Monitor). Mounted on the Earth-facing side, ACES will connect with ground clocks worldwide as the Station orbits Earth sixteen times a day. 

Developed by ESA with European industry led by Airbus, ACES carries the most precise clocks ever sent to space: PHARAO, developed by the French space agency CNES, and the Space Hydrogen Maser from Safran Timing Technologies in Switzerland. Together with a sophisticated microwave and laser link, they will compare time between space and Earth with unprecedented accuracy, testing fundamental physics and advancing future time standards. 

In March 2025, ACES arrived at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center, where ESA, Airbus and NASA teams prepared the payload for flight. ACES launched on 21 April aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 as part of the 32nd commercial resupply services mission to the International Space Station. Today, ACES was successfully switched on for the first time, establishing communications with ground control and stabilising its thermal systems in preparation for clock operations. 

A six-month commissioning phase now begins, after which ACES will embark on its two-year science mission, opening new frontiers in fundamental physics and timekeeping.

The next evolution and upgrade of the solid rocket motor that propels both Vega-C and Ariane 6 launchers off the launch pad was tested at Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana on 24 April 2025 on the solid-propellant booster test stand (BEAP) operated by the French Space Agency (CNES).

Firing for over two minutes the P160C completed the full hot-fire test expending all its solid-propellant as it will on a launch.

After ignition P160C delivered a maximum thrust of about 4700 kN, as expected for liftoff and the first phase of flight. According to initial recorded data, the performance met expectations. A full analysis of these test results and inspection of all components will confirm the design and provide the main justification elements for the rocket motor qualification for flight.

P160C is the larger version of the P120C rocket motor that is used as a booster for Ariane 6 and as a first stage motor for Vega-C. P160C holds 167 tonnes of solid propellant, 14 more than P120C and is a meter taller.

The P160C will allow Ariane 6 and Vega-C to launch heavier payloads and to different orbits and destinations, and it is also set to be used on the next generation in the Vega rocket family called Vega-E. The rocket motor is one of the most powerful one-piece motors in production in the world, the shell is wound in one go with a carbon-fibre composite.

The “P” in its name stands for “Powder”, as the 3.4-m cylinder houses solid propellant. The number 160 designates the 160 tonnes of propellant inside, and the C stands for “Common” as the motor is used on the two launchers.

P160C is developed by Europropulsion under contract from ArianeGroup and Avio who are developing the Ariane 6 launcher systems and Vega launcher systems for ESA. The recent test was on qualification model 3 (QM3), continuing the naming from the three models of P120C testing: a development model (DM); a first qualification model (QM1) configured for Vega-C; and a second qualification model (QM2) configured for Ariane 6.

France’s space agency CNES conducted the static fire test on the solid rocket motor test stand at Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana.

Copernicus Sentinel-1 captured this radar image over French Guiana – home to Europe’s Spaceport in Kourou, where ESA’s Biomass mission is being prepared for liftoff on 29 April onboard a Vega-C rocket.

A new wave of ocean scientists has embarked on an extraordinary six-week voyage aboard the majestic Statsraad Lehmkuhl tall ship that set sail today from Norway bound for southern France. But this is no ordinary journey. Thanks to this ESA Advanced Ocean Training Course, these upcoming researchers will be taking a deep dive into ocean science, empowering them with skills to harness satellite data for research, innovation and sustainable development – and preparing them to become tomorrow’s leaders and ambassadors for ocean science.

Read full story: Next generation scientists set sail to harness space for oceans

Biomass launch campaign footage - Vega-C VV26

Carrying a novel P-band synthetic aperture radar, the Biomass mission is designed to deliver crucial information about the state of our forests and how they are changing, and to further our knowledge of the role forests play in the carbon cycle.

Read more.

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