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A view from the launch pad with Vega-C flight VV26 ready for liftoff as the mobile building that surrounds the rocket rolls away to reveal the rocket to the skies, 29 April 2025. On the rocket is ESA\u2019s Biomass mission.<\/p>\n
The mobile building allows Vega-C\u2019s four stages to be assembled on the launch pad in security and offers protection from the elements. The 50-metre\u202fhigh structure weighs over 1000 tonnes, and a hydraulic system drives wheels on an 80-m rail track.\u202fThe gantry is powered by two electric motors of some 70\u202fkW capacity, these operate the hydraulic pumps supplying pressurised oil to six wheels.<\/p>\n
Biomass is one of ESA\u2019s Earth Explorer missions and, like other Earth Explorers, it uses advanced space technology to provide new data. Biomass will advance our understanding of forests and their importance in the carbon cycle and climate.<\/p>\n
We already know that forests play a vital role in Earth\u2019s carbon cycle by absorbing and storing large amounts of carbon dioxide. This helps to regulate the planet\u2019s temperature. Data from Biomass will help us produce more accurate estimates of how much carbon is contained in forests’ organic matter, or biomass, and reduce uncertainties in carbon stock and flux estimates, including those related to land-use change, forest loss, and regrowth.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
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