Sentinel-5, a Copernicus mission, will be carried on MetOp Second Generation A-type weather satellites, with the first launch expected in 2025.

The mission aims to measure atmospheric trace gases such as ozone, nitrogen dioxide, sulfur dioxide, formaldehyde, glyoxal, carbon monoxide, and methane, as well as aerosols.

These gases impact air quality and climate.

Sentinel-5 follows the Sentinel-5 Precursor satellite, which has provided extensive air-quality data since its 2017 launch.

The MetOp Second Generation satellites will orbit at low altitude, complementing the Meteosat Third Generation Sounder satellites carrying Sentinel-4 in high geostationary orbit. Sentinel-5 will offer full global coverage daily with its 2700 km-wide swath.

The Sentinel-5 instrument uses five optical spectrometers to analyze solar light reflected by the Earth, detecting a wide range of gases from ultraviolet to shortwave infrared.

With a spatial resolution of 7.5 km, it will monitor air quality over major cities and pinpoint emission sources.

Now at Airbus in Toulouse, the Sentinel-5 instrument will be installed and tested on the MetOp Second Generation-A1 satellite over the next month.

Didier Martin, ESA"s Sentinel-5 Project Manager, said, "We are thrilled to have passed this important milestone which is a significant step forward to realising the mission and its important task delivering key data for air-quality forecasts, climate monitoring and more.

"We would like to thank all the teams involved for all their hard work. We now look forward to seeing Sentinel-5 installed on the MetOp Second Generation-A1 satellite by Airbus in Toulouse.

"Airbus in Germany has led the consortium, which includes more than 45 companies from 13 European countries, in the development and build of this Copernicus mission."

Once launched into Sun-synchronous orbit, the satellite and Sentinel-5 instrument will be operated by the European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites, Eumetsat, in Germany, responsible for data acquisition, processing, and distribution.

The Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service and the Copernicus Climate Change Service will use Sentinel-5 data for environmental monitoring and decision-making.

The data will be free and open, benefiting the scientific community and the public worldwide.

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