Orfeo Programme : Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Orfeo Programme

The Orfeo programme is an agreement to implement co-operation for setting up an Earth observation capability using optical and radar sensors, and mainly to define the context in which the dual-purpose system (military and civilian) is to be developed and used. It is currently composed of 6 high-resolution satellites: 4 Cosmo-Skymed X-band satellites from Italy, and 2 Pleiades optical satellites from France.

Spain, Belgium, Sweden and Austria will also be users of this system.

External links

CNES article about Orfeo
Alenia Spazio (Finmeccanica) COSMO-Skymed webpage

European Space Agency

Spaceports	Guiana Space Centre Esrange
Launch vehicles	Ariane 5 Ariane 6 Soyuz Vega
Facilities	Space Operations Centre Space Research and Technology Centre ESA Centre for Earth Observation European Astronaut Centre Space Astronomy Centre Space Applications and Telecommunications Centre Concurrent Design Facility Space Telescope European Coordinating Facility
Communications	ESTRACK European Data Relay System
Programmes	Artemis ESM Aurora ATV Copernicus Sentinel Columbus CryoSat EGNOS GALILEO ELIPS ExoMars FLPP Living Planet Programme Space Situational Awareness Programme Science Programme Horizon 2000 Cosmic Vision Pride
Predecessors	European Launcher Development Organisation European Space Research Organisation
Related topics	Arianespace ESA Television EUMETSAT European Space Camp GEWEX Planetary Science Archive

Projects and missions

Science

Solar physics	ISEE-2 (1977–1987) Ulysses (1990–2009) SOHO (1995–present) Cluster II (2000–present) Solar Orbiter (2020–present) Vigil (2031)
Planetary science	Giotto (1985–1992) Huygens (1997–2005) SMART-1 (2003–2006) Mars Express (2003–present) Rosetta/Philae (2004–2016) Venus Express (2005–2014) ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter (2016–present) BepiColombo (2018–present) Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer (2023) Hera (2024) Rosalind Franklin rover (2028) Comet Interceptor (2029) EnVision (2031)
Astronomy and cosmology	Cos-B (1975–1982) IUE (1978–1996) EXOSAT (1983–1986) Hipparcos (1989–1993) Hubble Space Telescope (1990–present) Eureca (1992–93) ISO (1995–1998) XMM-Newton (1999–present) INTEGRAL (2002–present) CoRoT (2006–13) Planck (2009–2013) Herschel (2009–2013) Gaia (2013–present) CHEOPS (2019–present) James Webb Space Telescope (2021–present) Euclid (2023–present) PLATO (2026) ARIEL (2029) ARRAKIHS (2030s) Athena (2035) LISA (2035)
Earth observation	Copernicus (1988–present) Meteosat First Generation (1977–1997) ERS-1 (1991–2000) ERS-2 (1995–2011) Meteosat Second Generation (2002–present) Envisat (2002–2012) Double Star (2003–2007) MetOp (2006–present) GOCE (2009–2013) SMOS (2009–present) CryoSat-2 (2010–present) Swarm (2013–present) Sentinel-1 / 1A / 1B (2014–present) Sentinel-2 / 2A / 2B (2015–present) Sentinel-3 / 3A / 3B (2016–present) Sentinel-5 Precursor (2017–present) ADM-Aeolus (2018–present) Biomass (2024) EarthCARE (2024) Meteosat Third Generation (Sentinel-4) (2024) ALTIUS (2025) FLEX (2025) MetOp-SG-A (2025) MetOp-SG-B (2025) SMILE (2025) FORUM (2027)