ESA adds Hibidis and SOVA-S missions

The European Space Agency said on May 20 that it had selected two new Earth-observation Scout missions, Hibidis and SOVA-S, expanding its low-cost research satellite program. ESA said the missions were approved by its Earth Observation Programme Board after a 10-month evaluation process and were chosen from four final competing concepts. The additions come as ESA’s first Scout mission, HydroGNSS, moves through early operations after its November 2025 launch. ESA said the Scout line sits within its FutureEO program and is meant to deliver smaller, faster missions alongside its larger Earth Explorer satellites. ### Which two missions did ESA just add? ESA named Hibidis and SOVA-S as the next two Scout missions on May 20. ESA said Hibidis is intended to study understorey biodiversity and ecosystem functioning beneath forest canopies, while SOVA-S will investigate atmospheric gravity waves and their effects on the upper atmosphere and thermosphere. (esa.int) ESA said the two were selected from a shortlist of four candidate missions first identified in June 2025. The other finalists were NAIAD, focused on coastal and inland aquatic ecosystems, and SIRIUS, an infrared imaging mission for urban heat islands and heat-related health risks. ### What is Hibidis supposed to measure? (esa.int) Hibidis is a hyperspectral mission aimed at what ESA calls understorey biodiversity. ESA said the satellite is designed to reveal new insights into ecosystems hidden below forest canopies, an area that is harder to observe from space than the top of the canopy. ESA’s June 2025 candidate-mission announcement identified Sitael in Italy as the prime contractor for Hibidis. (esa.int) ESA’s description indicates the mission is focused on ecosystem structure and function rather than broad land-cover mapping alone. That makes Hibidis different from many Earth-observation satellites that primarily capture canopy-level or surface-level signals, an inference based on ESA’s stated emphasis on “understorey biodiversity and ecosystem functioning.” (esa.int) ### What will SOVA-S do in orbit? SOVA-S stands for Satellite Observation of Waves in the Atmosphere – Scout, according to ESA. ESA said it will carry a shortwave infrared imager to provide near-global daily observations of gravity waves at altitudes of about 80 kilometers to 120 kilometers. ESA said SOVA-S will measure the intensity of “airglow,” a faint light emission produced by chemical reactions in the atmosphere, to observe those waves. (esa.int) ESA’s June 2025 candidate list identified OHB in Czechia as the prime contractor for the mission. ### How does this fit with the Scout program ESA already has? ESA said Scout missions are part of the agency’s FutureEO program and are meant to complement the larger Earth Explorer research satellites. (esa.int) ESA said each Scout mission is designed for rapid development, with a target of three years from kick-off to launch and a budget of €35 million. ESA’s current Scout roster had already included HydroGNSS, NanoMagSat and Tango before the latest selection. HydroGNSS is ESA’s first Scout mission and was launched on November 28, 2025, aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California, ESA said. NanoMagSat is intended to measure Earth’s magnetic field, while Tango is designed to monitor greenhouse-gas emissions from large industrial facilities and power plants. (esa.int) ### What has happened with HydroGNSS so far? HydroGNSS launched on November 28, 2025, and ESA said signals from both satellites were received the same day after separation from the rocket. The two-satellite mission uses GNSS reflectometry to derive measurements related to soil moisture, inundation, freeze-thaw state and biomass, according to ESA and eoPortal. (esa.int) ESA said in March 2026 that HydroGNSS had generated its first Delay Doppler Maps about three months after launch, while still in commissioning. ESA described those early data as evidence that the satellites were beginning to show the scientific capability they were built to provide for water-cycle studies. ### What happens next for the newly selected missions? (esa.int) ESA said the Earth Observation Programme Board has now formally approved Hibidis and SOVA-S for selection, moving them from candidate status into the Scout mission pipeline. ESA’s Scout framework calls for missions to move from kick-off to launch within three years, and the agency’s published Scout pages now list HydroGNSS, NanoMagSat, Tango, Hibidis and SOVA-S within the same program family. (esa.int 1) (esa.int 2)