The agreement, signed by ESA Director of Earth Observations Programmes Simonetta Cheli and OHB System AG Board Member Rüdiger Schönfeld at the 75th International Astronautical Congress in Milan, empowers OHB as the prime contractor. Under this contract, OHB will manage an industrial consortium to develop and build the satellites, which are designed to enhance our understanding of ocean–atmosphere interactions, ice movement, and land deformation.
“This is an important and complex mission,” remarked Schönfeld. “Harmony will deliver crucial data that enables scientists to deepen our understanding of Earth’s climate.” Cheli added that Harmony will provide “a diverse array of high-resolution measurements” to bridge current knowledge gaps in Earth system science.
The Harmony satellites will operate in conjunction with Sentinel-1D from the Copernicus programme, using its radar signals for enhanced data collection. Each Harmony satellite will be equipped with a passive synthetic aperture radar (SAR) and a thermal infrared (TIR) instrument, a groundbreaking combination for OHB. “This dual-payload setup is a first for OHB and presents a significant technical challenge,” explained Harmony Project Manager Agustina Alvarez Toledo.
Scheduled for launch in 2029, the satellites will orbit at 693 kilometres above Earth. This configuration will allow scientists to examine small-scale ocean movements, ice sheet dynamics, and land deformation. According to Florence Hélière, Harmony Project Manager at ESA, the mission will “advance our scientific understanding of the Earth system” by providing essential data on these phenomena.
The Harmony mission will support scientific observations critical to understanding ocean circulation, sea ice properties, and the behaviour of glaciers. Its data will also aid in forecasting sea level changes and examining tectonic shifts and volcanic activity on land. This will be invaluable for applications in land monitoring, crisis response, resource management, and marine ecosystem protection.
OHB System AG leads a consortium of 45 companies from 15 ESA member states, including Thales Alenia Space Italia, which will provide the SAR payload, and ABB from Canada, responsible for the TIR cameras. The consortium will expand further as additional partners are onboarded to support this vital mission.