Following confirmation from Eurockot Launch Services that they will launch ESA's SMOS mission on September 9th, the satellite has now been removed from storage and will soon be prepared for shipment to the Russian launch site in.

The Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity (SMOS) mission is the next Earth Explorer in line for liftoff after the successful launch of the Gravity field and steady-state Ocean Circulation Explorer (GOCE) six weeks ago. After being in storage at Thales Alenia Space in the south of France for almost a year, the SMOS satellite has just been unveiled. This satellite consists of a generic platform called Proteus provided by the French space agency CNES that carries a novel instrument called the Microwave Imaging Radiometer using Aperture Synthesis (MIRAS), developed by EADS-CASA Espacio in Spain. SMOS is the first satellite mission to carry a polar-orbiting 2D interferometric radiometer.

Through the use of this new technology, SMOS will measure concentrations of moisture in soil and salt in the oceans for a deeper understanding of the water cycle and how a changing climate may be affecting patterns of evaporation over the ocean and land. Data on salinity in the surface waters of the oceans will also advance our knowledge of ocean circulation, which is important in moderating the climate.

The SMOS satellite is about to undergo some testing prior to the Flight Acceptance Review on May 25th, which is expected to signal the 'green light' for shipment to the Plesetsk Cosmodrome in northern Russia. Once it has arrived safely at the launch site in the summer, the satellite will be thoroughly tested and prepared for launch on September 9th. The European Space Agency (ESA) is launching Proba-2 along with SMOS. The Proba-2 satellite serves as a test bed for 17 new technological developments and carries experiments to observe the Sun and contribute to research into space weather. (Credits: ESA)