Airbus Defence and Space has delivered the first Sentinel-5 instrument to the European Space Agency (ESA) for integration on the MetOp Second Generation Satellite A. The UVNS (Ultraviolet Visible Near-infrared Short-wave infrared Spectrometer) instrument will enhance monitoring of air quality, ozone layer changes, and wildfire emissions.
Sentinel-5 is one of the “atmospheric sentinels” designed to monitor the composition of Earth’s atmosphere. Its mission is to globally track atmospheric trace gases and aerosols, supporting the EU’s Copernicus climate monitoring programme, a joint initiative of the European Union and ESA. EUMETSAT, the European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites, will operate both the spacecraft and the instrument.
Sentinel-5 will support climate, air quality, and ozone/surface UV applications by measuring atmospheric concentrations of ozone, nitrogen dioxide, sulfur dioxide, formaldehyde, glyoxal, carbon monoxide, methane, and aerosols from Low Earth Orbit (LEO) with unprecedented accuracy. Its data will be utilized by the Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service (CAMS) and the Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S), aiding climate monitoring and environmental decision-making authorities. The scientific community will gain new insights into Earth’s atmosphere from Sentinel-5 data.
As a high-resolution imaging spectrometer, Sentinel-5 will analyze light reflected by Earth’s atmosphere across 7 spectral bands, ranging from ultraviolet to shortwave infrared. An industrial consortium of about 50 companies from 13 European countries developed the Sentinel-5 instruments, requiring advancements in optics, electronics, and structures. Following the delivery of Sentinel-4 about 1.5 years ago, Sentinel-5 is the second atmospheric Sentinel from Airbus in Ottobrunn. Airbus will deliver three more atmospheric Sentinels (one Sentinel-4 and two Sentinel-5 instruments) in the near future, expected to operate in orbit and provide data for the next two decades.
