Posted: Fri, May 30, 2008, 4:56 AM ET (0856 GMT)
ESA awarded EADAS Astrium a contract this week for the development of an earth sciences satellite designed to study clouds and aerosols. The €263-million (US$410-million) EarthCARE satellite is a 1,700-kilogram satellite scheduled for launch in 2013. The spacecraft will carry instruments from ESA and JAXA to collect data on the vertical profiles of clouds and aerosols in the atmosphere and radiances at the top of the atmosphere. This information will be used to improve weather and climate forecasting models. EarthCARE will be the sixth in a series of Earth Explorer missions run by ESA.

Related Links:

•  Flightglobal.com article
•  ESA press release