German manufacturer OHB has signed a contract worth €554 million with the European Space Agency. The agreement covers the development of the first Sentinel-3 Next Generation Topography satellite for the Copernicus programme.
The contract includes an option for the production of a second spacecraft. OHB will lead the industrial consortium responsible for the project, which aims to replace the existing Sentinel-3 orbital constellation.
The new system splits monitoring tasks into two missions. The Sentinel-3 NGT satellite will focus on radar-altimetry, while the Sentinel-3 NGO mission will handle optical observations and temperature measurements.
OHB previously conducted preliminary design studies for the NGT mission in 2022 and the NGO mission in 2024. The company competed for the current contract against Airbus Defence and Space.
While initial projections from the International Laser Ranging Service suggested launch dates in 2033 and 2035, OHB has not released an updated timeline for the deployment of the satellites.
