A fine maggio ESA ha comunicato le due nuove missioni di classe Scout: Hibidis e SOVA-S.
Greenlight for next two ESA Scout missions
Hibidis stands for Hyperspectral Biodiversity Scout – and as its full name suggests, it will carry a hyperspectral imager to improve our understanding of understorey ecosystem biodiversity. By viewing selected areas of Earth’s surface from three different angles, this clever instrument will be able to separate forest canopies from understories so that various Essential Biodiversity Variables can be assessed.
SOVA-S stands for Satellite Observation of Waves in the Atmosphere – Scout. It will carry a shortwave infrared imager to provide near-global daily observations of gravity waves at an altitude of between 80 km and 120 km. It will do this by measuring the intensity of ‘airglow’ – a faint emission of light produced by a chemical reaction in the atmosphere.
Il prime contractor di Hibidis è l’italiana Sitael.
Un articolo da Space Watch Global.
ESAs HiBiDiS Mission Signals SITAEL’s Shift from Supplier to Mission Prime
The mission itself is scientifically ambitious. Using multi-angular hyperspectral imaging, HiBiDiS aims to observe not only forest canopies, but also the biodiversity hidden beneath them.
[..] SITAEL doesn’t simply integrate propulsion systems from suppliers, but it develops Hall-effect thrusters, cathodes, propulsion electronics and onboard systems under one industrial framework.
This matters particularly for the 200-500 kilogram satellite segment SITAEL is targeting. According to Pertosa, the segment has become strategically important because it combines flexibility, reliability and the ability to host advanced payloads without depending on fragile supply chains.
ESAs HiBiDiS sits directly inside that niche.
The mission will fly on EMPYREUM, SITAEL’s medium-class platform introduced last year and now positioned as the company’s flagship architecture for advanced Earth observation and dual-use applications.