Home > Missions and Case Studies > ERS-2

ERS-2

Overview

ERS-2 was a pioneering ESA Earth observation satellite that greatly influenced our understanding of our planet and climate change. Despite an intended operational life of only 3 years, the satellite had a 16-year operational lifetime, and together with the almost identical ERS-1 satellite left an important legacy for the future of Earth observation. ERS-2 collected a wealth of valuable data about our planet's land surfaces, oceans and polar caps, and also monitored natural disasters including severe flooding and earthquakes in remote parts of the world.

RAL Space involvement

Along Track Scanning Radiometer-2, Global Ozone Monitoring Experiment

Focus

Earth observation

Partners

NERC

Date

June 2026

ERS-2 satellite orbiting the Earth.

Artists impression of ERS-2 satellite. Credit: EADS Astrium.

View more missions

Sentinel-3

Sentinel-3 is a multi-instrument mission to measure sea-surface topography, sea- and land-surface temperature, ocean colour and land colour...

ERS-2

ERS-2 was a pioneering ESA Earth observation satellite that greatly influenced our understanding of our planet and climate change.

ERS-1

ERS-1 was the first in a series of ESA Earth Observation satellites in the European Earth Observation program. ERS-1 primarily monitored ocean and ice levels using all-weather high resolution active...

Cluster II

Cluster II is an ESA mission to study the Earth's magnetosphere and the way in which the solar wind affects the Earth. It consists of four identical spacecraft orbiting in...

Vigil

ESA's Vigil mission will monitor our active and unpredictable Sun to protect vital infrastructure on Earth, in space as well as space explorers from its violent outbursts.

GIOVE‑A

GIOVE-A was the first test for Galileo, the first positioning, navigation and timing system for civil use consisting of a constellation of 24 satellites. GIOVE-A tested critical Galileo instruments and...

ExoMars 2016

ExoMars (2016) was a combination of the Trace Gas Orbiter and the landing Demonstrator Module Schiaparelli. They flew to Mars in search of methane and other trace gases.

SpeQtre

SpeQtre aims to test communications so secure that any attempt to intercept them is instantly detectable – a fundamental law of physics that makes the technology unhackable even by future...