BackForward Satellite Programme: Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity 

Programme details
Programme description
  • Single satellite programme, for L-band frequency radiometry.
  • Earth Explorer opportunity mission in the framework of the ESA Living Planet programme: ESA responsible of overall development; CNES responsible of satellite operation; CDTI of data processing.
  • The platform is actively stabilised over 3 axes.
  • The design life time of the satellite is 3 years.
  • The satellite exploits the dawn-dusk orbit at 6:00.
  • See more detailed description here.
Data circulation
  • Data stored onboard and downlinked to the Kiruna and Svalbard stations.
  • The Data Processing Ground Segment (DPGS), installed in Villafranca (Spain), is managed by CDTI (Centro para el Desarrollo Technologico Industrial).  The user interface is managed by ESA/ESRIN (Frascati, Rome).
Agencies ESA , CDTI, CNES
Programme lifetime 2009 - 2025
Associated satellites and instruments

Note: red tag => no longer operational , green tag => operational , blue tag => planned