For ESA’s Earth Observation Programmes,
the first of March 2022 is a special day
as it marks the 20th anniversary of the launch
of one of the most important European Earth Observation satellites ever:
Envisat.
Envisat is the father of all the missions we have,
it had such an important legacy in Earth observation,
and we still have it today as a reference model.
Envisat was developed during the 90’s as a research mission
and succeeded ESA’s ERS missions.
It was built to the monitor the health of our planet
using a range of different instruments.
In the spirit of the day,
ESA chose to develop one large and versatile satellite
with many different capabilities
instead of a series of smaller specialised craft.
And it showed
Envisat,
which was approximately the size of a bus
and weighed over 8 tonnes,
is, to this day,
the biggest Earth observation satellite
ever launched.
Envisat, was by far and still by far
the biggest Earth Observation satellite that we've ever launched.
So at that time
we needed basically the biggest launcher
and it was already Ariane 5.
Envisat carried 10 different innovative instruments
to provide measurements of our atmosphere,
land,
oceans,
and ice.
These instruments included a radar,
an altimeter
and several optical and infrared instruments.
Whether they were totally novel or improved versions of earlier instruments,
all were at the cutting edge of technology
revealing new insights our home planet
and how it is changing.
You see, we have seen so much with Envisat
that I barely remember.
But already in the commissioning phase,
for example,
using the SAR imaging instrument,
which can see through clouds
or during the night,
we saw an extra ordinary event.
We saw the break-up of an ice-shelf in Antarctica.
Its name was Larsen C,
and that was extraordinary to be able to see that
which was difficult to see before
with other particular optical
because it's often cloudy there or night.
But we could we could see that,
I think it was the second month of the commission phase
and show that to the world.
While Envisat was planned to be in orbit for just 5 years,
the satellite proved to be extremely robust
and it surpassed its expected lifetime
by a further 5 years.
Doubling its intended life,
the mission ended in April 2012
but its data continue to be used today for research
into how our world has changed.
Envisat has left an incredible legacy
not only thanks to its science data
but also thanks to its technological heritage.
The Sentinels today are very much operational missions,
with data flows feeding the users on a continuous basis for a really long period of time.
But they're based on the experience,
the expertise and the technology innovation that was actually on board of Envisat.
And this is very important for all of us
because the legacy of such an important mission is today in everything we do
in terms of Earth observation.
Today,
even some of the Sentinel missions,
which are key to the EU’s Copernicus programme,
carry instruments that are based on those that flew on Envisat.
Besides Envisat’s technological heritage,
the mission left another very important legacy
by way of the wealth of data it accumulated over its 10-year life.
The satellite circled Earth over 50,000 times,
delivering vast quantities of data and images.
This treasure trove of data
is still being used by a growing science community,
a community that Envisat mission helped create.
Today,
Envisat still yields new science,
helping us to understand long-term changes
and the effects of climate change.
Importantly,
Envisat paved the way for Earth observation missions
and data to be used operationally
improving daily life,
by for example detecting oil spills.
What is very important is that ESA continues to work on innovation,
on technology,
on advanced missions,
in terms of testing new technologies in Earth observation,
this is really in the remit of what we do.
And also to improve the way to promote infrastructures,
including the idea that digital technologies
that can help you use the big volumes of data that we have available
and make those accessible to the users.
That's also part of what we want to do with a green future accelerator
with a digital twin of the Earth,
where we will integrate big volumes of data
into high computing capabilities
and make those available to support
not just a monitoring of the state of the art of our planet,
but also prediction modelling
on climate change and on natural disasters.
Observing Earth from space is now more important than ever
and ESA shows its ambitions
to further upgraded space-enabled capabilities
for a Green Future
and for Rapid and Resilient crisis response.
ESA continues to monitor our planet,
building satellites to deliver scientific and operational data
for the benefit of society.
Envisat was a precursor to ESA’s world-class position
as a provider of Earth observation data,
leaving behind an impressive legacy
and time series of data
that will still benefit generations to come.