Space Missions (Early Phase Mission Studies)
Telespazio UK can support a mission from an extremely early stage. Our extensive experience in space ground segment activities and satellite operations allows us to draw upon the lessons learned from numerous past missions, bringing benefits at a very early point in the design and development process.


Phase 0: Hydroterra

A candidate for the Earth Explorer 10 Core Mission, Hydroterra is a hydrology-focused mission using a single geosynchronous SAR satellite with coverage over Europe and much of Africa. The mission aims to improve prediction capability of intense rainfall, flooding and landslides, understand the diurnal water cycle, and enable near real-time prediction of ground motion.

Telespazio UK is currently involved in the Phase 0 System Study for Hydroterra, which covers all elements of the mission architecture, namely the satellite (instrument and platform), the launcher, the mission operation concept and the ground segment. The study aims to analyse mission requirements, review system requirements and define candidate implementation options. OHB is the consortium prime. TPZ UK is responsible for leading activities related to the Payload Data Ground Segment (PDGS), and supporting OHB with activities related to the Flight Operations Segment (FOS). The activation of Phase A is subject to successful completion of Phase 0 and selection of the mission to proceed to the next stage.

Phase A Studies: CoReH2O and BIOMASS

Telespazio VEGA UK was responsible for coordinating the ground segment elements of the Earth Explorer 7 candidate missions for both the Cold Regions Hydrology High Resolution Observatory (CoReH2O) and BIOMASS missions in two separate studies.

  • CoReH2O was proposed to be the first satellite mission dedicated to making global measurements of freshwater stored in snow on land surfaces and snow accumulated on glaciers and ice caps through the observation of snow and ice properties at high spatial resolutions using twin frequency synthetic aperture radars.
  • BIOMASS is to provide the scientific community with the first accurate maps of tropical, temperate and boreal forest biomass, including height and disturbance patterns through observations with a P-Band SAR.

Telespazio UK coordinated all aspects of the ground segment elements of the studies, including mission planning, processing, the Flight Operations Segment (FOS) and the Payload Data Ground Segment (PDGS). We had direct responsibility for the analysis of the PDGS elements related to:

  • Acquisition and Ingestion
  • Archiving
  • Dissemination
  • QC & Cal/Val
  • Monitoring & Control
  • User Segment

BIOMASS was selected by ESA as the preferred candidate to become the Earth Explorer 7 mission.

Phase B1 Study: BIOMASS

Continuing on from the Phase A study, Telespazio UK was again involved in the later Phase B1 study for BIOMASS.

Responsible for coordinating the ground segment elements of the analysis in the same manner as the Phase A study, Telespazio UK also had responsibility for the generation of the Mission Operations Concept.