Eumetsat Polar System (EPS) Sterna mission, to launch in 2029, will be a constellation of six microsatellites each of them carrying a microwave sounder, providing temperature and humidity observations of the Earth even when it is overcast, raining, or snowing. This data will improve significantly the accuracy of current numerical weather prediction models by providing an unprecedented coverage and revisit time: in five hours or less, the microwave sounders will cover a 90% of the globe surface.
The microwave sounder will be a cross track radiometer with four independent receiver horns feeding one scanning reflector, similar to the MicroWave Sounder (MWS) on board of Metop-SG-A. Its lifetime is expected to be 7.5 years, and the overall system, which accounts for three satellite units, will last for more than 21 years.
isardSAT will develop the scientific processor for the Level-1B data, which will convert Level-0 data into L1B products.