Article · Wikipedia archive · Last revised Jun 30, 2026

SOVA-S

SOVA-S is a future European atmospheric science satellite under development by the European Space Agency's FutureEO programme for Earth observation. Its objective is to study atmospheric gravity waves at an altitude between 80 and 120 km in order to improve climate and space weather modelling. To do this, the satellite will measure airglow using two shortwave infrared imagers.

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Jun 30, 2026
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SOVA-S
Mission typeAtmospheric science
Operator European Space Agency
Websitewww.ohb-czech.cz/our-projects/sova-s
Spacecraft properties
ManufacturerCzech Republic OHB Czechspace
Launch mass180 kg (estimated)
Start of mission
Launch date2030 (planned)

SOVA-S (Satellite Observation of Waves in the Atmosphere – Scout) is a future European atmospheric science satellite under development by the European Space Agency's FutureEO programme for Earth observation.1234567 Its objective is to study atmospheric gravity waves at an altitude between 80 and 120 km in order to improve climate and space weather modelling.8 To do this, the satellite will measure airglow using two shortwave infrared imagers.9101112

Background

The mission's primary contractor is the Czech company OHB Czechspace and major subcontractors are the German companies Berlin Space Technologies and OHB System.313 The mission's science team is led by the German Aerospace Center (DLR).314

History

The mission was originally proposed by OHB Czechspace as "SOVA" in 2023 for the "Czech Ambitious Missions" cooperation between ESA and Czechia.151617 It was not selected (the selected missions were AMBIC and QUVIK), but the committee recommended it as a backup.1819 In June 2025, SOVA-S was selected by ESA alongside three other missions out of nine Scout mission proposals for further study.20 SOVA-S was selected for implementation, together with another proposal named Hibidis, in May 2026.212223 The signing of the mission's development contract is expected by the end of 2026,24 mission implementation phase is expected to start in January 20273 and the satellite is expected to launch in 2030.2523

See also

See also

References

References

  1. Wüst, Sabine; Schall, Alexander; Stöffelmair, Ulrike; Bittner, Michael (2026). "Measurements of Atmospheric Dynamics from Space: SOVA-S, an ESA SCOUT mission candidate". EGU26. doi:10.5194/egusphere-egu26-10529. Retrieved 2026-05-20.
  2. "SOVA-S Mission: OHB Czechspace Team Succeeds in Prestigious ESA Scout Program". www.czechspacealliance.eu. Retrieved 2026-05-20.
  3. "SOVA-S". OHB Czechspace. 2026-04-22. Retrieved 2026-05-20.
  4. společnost, Česká astronomická (2025-06-30). "Mise SOVA-S vybrána jako jeden z nejlepších projektů v prestižním programu ESA Scout". ČAS (in Czech). Retrieved 2026-05-20.
  5. "Český satelitní obr SOVA-S je o krok blíže k cestě do vesmíru, zkoumat by měl klima - Novinky". www.novinky.cz (in Czech). 2025-06-27. Retrieved 2026-05-20.
  6. "Česká SOVA pro lepší předpovědi počasí dosáhla dalšího důležitého milníku". www.proelektrotechniky.cz. Retrieved 2026-05-20.
  7. Dickinson, David (2026-05-29). "ESA Selects Two New Scout-Class Missions". Universe Today. Retrieved 2026-05-29.
  8. Gorman, Douglas (2026-05-21). "ESA Approves Two Scout Science Missions". Payload. Retrieved 2026-05-21.
  9. "Satellite mission proposal "SOVA-S" finalized". www.dlr.de. Retrieved 2026-05-20.
  10. "Prestižní program ESA Scout ocenil českou misi SOVA-S – Kosmonautix.cz" (in Czech). Retrieved 2026-05-20.
  11. "Four new candidate Scout missions". www.esa.int. Retrieved 2026-05-20.
  12. "První mise pod českým vedením uspěla ve výběrovém řízení Evropské kosmické agentury. SOVA-S míří k realizaci | MPO". mpo.gov.cz. Retrieved 2026-05-20.
  13. "BST is proud to be part of the SOVA-S mission…". LinkedIn. Retrieved 2026-05-20.
  14. "Satellit SOVA-S: Augsburger Projekt im Finale eines ESA-Weltraumprogramms". www.uni-a.de. Retrieved 2026-05-20.
  15. "The Czech space mission SOVA has the support of foreign scientists. Data from the largest Czech satellite would have global impact". OHB Czechspace. Retrieved 2026-05-20.
  16. "Mise SOVA chce být největší českou družicí v historii - Akademie věd České republiky". www.avcr.cz. Retrieved 2026-05-20.
  17. "Česká družicová mise SOVA pomůže zpřesnit předpovědi extrémního počasí". OHB Czechspace (in Czech). Retrieved 2026-05-20.
  18. s.r.o, Titio. "The Czech Republic will have two separate space missions: AMBIC and QUVIK". md.gov.cz. Retrieved 2026-05-20.
  19. "Czech Ambitious Missions to be launched with support from ESA BIC Czech Republic Alumni Startups". www.esa-bic.cz. Retrieved 2026-05-20.
  20. "Four new candidate Scout missions". www.esa.int. Retrieved 2026-05-20.
  21. "Greenlight for next two ESA Scout missions". www.esa.int. Retrieved 2026-05-20.
  22. Vitetta, Stefano (2026-05-20). "ESA lancia due nuove missioni Scout: Hibidis e SOVA-S per biodiversità e atmosfera". MeteoWeb (in Italian). Retrieved 2026-05-20.
  23. "MPO: První mise pod českým vedením uspěla ve výběrovém řízení ESA. SOVA-S míří k realizaci". BusinessInfo.cz (in Czech). Retrieved 2026-05-20.
  24. Parsonson, Andrew (2026-05-29). "ESA Greenlights Two Budget-Friendly Earth Observation Missions". European Spaceflight. Retrieved 2026-05-29.
  25. Czech scientific satellite mission SOVA-S enters final evaluation by European Space Agency. Poised to take a leading role in global research on atmospheric gravity waves (archived)