OHB Sweden and OHB Italia awarded Copernicus studies

Stockholm, Milan, June 20, 2018. OHB Sweden and OHB Italia, the subsidiaries of the space and technology group OHB SE, have been awarded contract two studies on the candidate expansion missions of “Copernicus” by the European Space Agency ESA. This brings in addition with three more studies for OHB Systems AG the total order volume for the OHB Group from “Copernicus” to EUR 24 million.

OHB Sweden was selected as prime contractor for the "PIST" (Polar Ice and Snow Topography) mission study with a contract volume of EUR 5 million. The purpose of the PIST mission is to complement sea level altimeter missions by doing measurements of polar ice cap, sea ice variation and snow levels for climate change monitoring.

In addition, OHB subsidiary OHB Italia was selected by ESA as subcontractor for a study on the CIMR (Copernicus Imaging Microwave Radiometer) mission. The contract is worth EUR 2 million. OHB Italia will be responsible of the Passive Microwave Imager payload, based on the strong heritage as prime contractor of the Metop-SG Microwave Imager instrument. Among other things, the concentration of ice at sea can be observed. This mission shall provide improved continuity of sea ice concentration monitoring missions, in particular in terms of spatial resolution, temporal resolution (sub-daily) and accuracy (in particular near the ice edges). Additional measurement of Sea Surface Temperature in the polar regions may also be included.

Volume of 17 million euros for OHB System AG

Three further studies on the possible expansion missions of "Copernicus" were awarded by ESA to OHB System AG as prime contractor. These European-wide studies have a value of 17 million euros. The total volume of the European Commission's envisaged budget for the Copernicus mission amounts to EUR 5.9 billion.