There is a need to achieve optimal cost effectiveness from remote sensing missions. Concurrently, a key scientific need in remote sensing is to address the spatial and temporal resolution of atmospheric measurements. Improved temporal resolution observations of the atmosphere – and importantly a reduced latency between observation and delivery to the user – can directly improve weather forecasting services.
In this SysNova call, the target is to achieve a revisit at 40° latitude of once every hour with a resolution of better than 20 km. No single LEO remote sensing spacecraft could come close to this target – it has to be tackled by a constellation of satellites, and for this approach to be cost effective, the satellites should be low cost and small to minimise launch costs. Nanosatellites designed to suitable quality levels fit the bill very effectively