Madrid. 25 June 2018 . Thales Alenia Space in Spain partners with OHB System AG in the Land Surface Temperature Monitoring (LSTM) mission, in the frame of the expansion of the Copernicus Program led by the European Space Agency (ESA) on behalf of the European Commission.
The LSTM mission is one of the six candidate missions for the Copernicus Space Component Expansion, which aims at providing additional capabilities to the Copernicus program in support of current emerging user needs.
The LSTM mission shall be able to complement the current visible and near-infrared Copernicus observations with high spatio-temporal resolution Thermal Infrared observations over land and coastal regions in support of agriculture management services and possibly a range of additional services.
Thales Alenia Space in Spain, as instrument prime contractor leading a team of European industries, is in charge of the instrument concept and performance and also supports the mission analysis by OHB System AG, responsible for the system and platform.
“The LSTM mission shall contribute to the monitoring and optimal management of water resources and crops, which is key to better addressing the nutritional needs of the world’s population over the next few decades,” said Eduardo Bellido, CEO of Thales Alenia Space in Spain. “We are enthusiastic in collaborating with ESA and OHB in such an exciting mission, leveraging our experience in the technology pre-development of the Thermal Infrared Imager instrument (TIRI). The lead of the LSTM instrument activities in Spain represents a further step of growth in system competences and in the value chain of Thales Alenia Space in Spain for infrared instruments, well supported by European and Spanish institutions,” he added.
