Belgian space experiment for atmospheric sounding
The Atmospheric Limb Tracker for Investigation of the Upcoming Stratosphere (ALTIUS) is a satellite mission proposed by the Royal Belgian Institute for Space Aeronomy (BIRA-IASB) and implemented under the European Space Agency (ESA)'s EarthWatch programme. The science team at BIRA-IASB is currently developing the mission's level-2 scientific retrieval algorithms.
The main objective of ALTIUS is to monitor the distribution and evolution of stratospheric ozone in the Earth's atmosphere. It will also measure a suite of other atmospheric molecules which are important for climate research.
The industrial consortium is led by Redwire Space, acting as mission prime. The satellite design is based on the PROBA small satellite bus. The payload, developed by OIP Sensor Systems, is an innovative instrument capable of detecting light in the UV, visible, and NIR wavelengths.
The mission is scheduled for launch in 2026 from the Guiana Space Centre.
