On 27 May, ESA has signed a contract of 263 million euros with Astrium to develop and build EarthCARE Earth Observation satellite. The later will focus on clouds, aerosols and radiation, and investigate the interrelationships between clouds and precipitation. This will contribute to better understand the climate change and deliver valuable data for climate researchers and meteorologists. The role of aerosols in cloud formation and the interaction with radiation is not completely understood by science but plays an important role in climate and weather modelling.
EarthCARE is the sixth Earth Explorer mission to be launched by ESA as part of its “Living Planet” Earth exploration programme, implemented jointly with the Japanese space agency JAXA.
The EarthCARE satellite is planed to be launched in September of 2013.
More information on ESA website
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