20/05/2026
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The European Space Agency is expanding its growing fleet of Earth-observation science scout missions with the selection of two new satellites: Hibidis and SOVA-S.
Selected from among four final competing concepts, these missions will tackle very different but equally important scientific questions – from biodiversity beneath forest canopies to the effects of atmospheric gravity waves above Earth.
HIBIDIS is designed to reveal new insights into basic biodiversity and ecosystem functioning, while SOVA-S will investigate how atmospheric gravity waves affect the upper atmosphere and thermosphere.
The selection was formally approved today by ESA’s Earth Observation Program Board following an intensive 10-month evaluation process.
Complementing the well-established series of Earth Explorer research satellite missions, Scouts is a relatively recent component of ESA’s Earth Observation FutureEO programme. This family of small satellites provides value-added science either by miniaturizing existing space technologies or by demonstrating new observational techniques. The important thing is that the overarching goal is to achieve all this quickly.
Adopting the New Space concept, the Scout class missions follow an extremely agile and low-cost development process.
Simonetta Cheli, Director of ESA’s Earth Observation Programme, said, “ESA Scout missions show that achieving unprecedented Earth science does not always require big budgets and long development times. Moving fast, embracing innovation and empowering emerging ideas, these missions demonstrate how agility and creativity can accelerate progress, delivering impactful science and technology in a remarkably short time frame.
“Nevertheless, the decision to give the green light to Hibidis and SOVA-S was not taken lightly and the final decision came only after rigorously evaluating four concepts. We congratulate the Hibidis and SOVA-S teams and now look forward to making them a reality.”
HIBDIS and SOVA-S now join a family of scouts that includes HydroGNSS, launched in November 2025 to provide measurements of key hydrological climate variables, NanoMagSat in development to understand magnetic field dynamics and the Sun’s role in the coupled atmospheric-ionospheric-magnetospheric system, and methane, carbon dioxide and nitrogen emitted from large industrial sites. Tango is included in development to measure dioxide.
Hibidis
Hibidis stands for Hyperspectral Biodiversity Scout – and as its full name suggests, it will carry a hyperspectral imager to improve our understanding of understory ecosystem biodiversity.
Hibidis – Exploring Forest Biodiversity
By observing selected areas of the Earth’s surface from three different angles, this clever instrument will be able to differentiate forest canopies from understories so that various essential biodiversity variables can be assessed.
SITAEL is the prime contractor for Hibidis in Italy. Chiara Pertosa, CEO of SITEAL, said, “We are proud that SITEAL is leading the ESA Scout Hibidis mission dedicated to biodiversity. Thanks to the new Empirium platform, Hibidis will generate data that is currently unavailable, opening up new opportunities for terrestrial ecosystem monitoring.
“I would like to thank our partner AMOS for the hyperspectral instrument, and VITO and the University of Zurich for data processing and scientific contributions to the mission.”
sova-s
SOVA-S stands for Satellite Observation of Waves in the Atmosphere – Scout. It will carry a shortwave infrared imager to provide nearly global daily observations of gravitational waves at altitudes of 80 km to 120 km. It will do this by measuring the intensity of ‘airglow’ – a faint emission of light produced by a chemical reaction in the atmosphere.
SOVA-S – to detect gravitational waves
Atmospheric gravity waves play an important role in shaping Earth’s climate, but current climate models have not yet fully captured their effects. Like ocean waves in the wind, they carry large amounts of energy from the lower atmosphere to higher altitudes, where they break up and affect atmospheric circulation over vast distances. Data from the mission will help improve climate and space-weather models, leading to better predictions of extreme weather and more accurate GNSS positioning for applications such as aviation.
OHB Checkspace is the prime contractor for SOVA-S. Vit Pavelec, Managing Director of OHB CheckSpace, said, “The selection of SOVA-S is a major milestone for both our team and the Czech space sector.
“As prime contractor, we are proud to lead the development of what will be the largest satellite ever built in the Czech Republic. Equally important is the strong Czech-Bavarian cooperation with DLR and industrial partners, as well as the Czech-German cooperation on satellite platforms, which demonstrate Europe’s ability to unite expertise across borders to accomplish ambitious space missions.”
