As part of the procedure to realise ESA’s series of Earth Explorers, two new mission proposals have been selected for further development. The missions, called FLEX and CarbonSat, now vying to be the eighth Earth Explorer both address key climate and environmental change issues. The selection follows ESA’s Call for Earth Explorer Proposals that was released in October last year and ended in the Agency receiving 31 high-quality mission concepts. Subsequently, the proposals were carefully evaluated by leading Earth scientists in four peer review panels.
This evaluation process resulted in ESA’s Earth Science Advisory Committee selecting two missions considered the most scientifically relevant, recommending that the Fluorescence Explorer (FLEX) and CarbonSat be presented to ESA’s Programme Board for Earth Observation.
At the Earth Observation Programme Board Member States meeting, held on 24 November, it was decided to go ahead with the recommendation for FLEX and CarbonSat to move forward to
‘Phase-A/B1’. This phase includes feasibility study and further consolidation of the various components that make up a satellite mission.
