Arctic Weather Satellite

The Arctic Weather Satellite (AWS) mission employs a passive microwave radiometer to gather global atmospheric measurements. These measurements are crucial for Numerical Weather Prediction (NWP), Nowcasting (NWC), and supporting climate research and applications. OHB Sweden, with over three decades of experience in designing, developing, and testing low-cost small satellite missions, contributes its successful heritage InnoSat platform to this program. The InnoSat platform will undergo slight upgrades to meet potential constellation needs, ensuring its versatility and flexibility for various constellation orbits. The industrial team, led by OHB Sweden as mission prime, platform provider, and system integrator, includes Omnisys Instruments AB as Instrument prime and Thales Alenia Space as Ground Segment prime. The entire AWS industrial team comprises 31 companies from 12 different countries. The Arctic Weather Satellite is funded under a contract with the European Space Agency’s Earth Watch program and was successfully launched on August 16, 2024, from the Vandenberg Space Force Base in California, USA.