en.Wedoany.com Report, On March 18, Swedish space company OHB Sweden signed a contract worth €248 million with the European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites (EUMETSAT) to build 20 small satellites for the EPS-Sterna programme, enhancing Europe's weather forecasting and climate monitoring capabilities. This contract represents the largest satellite project in Sweden's space sector to date, marking a key transformation for the Swedish space industry from supplying components to leading the construction of entire satellites.
The EPS-Sterna programme consists of three generations, totaling six operational satellites and two backup satellites. The first group of six is scheduled for launch in 2029 and will operate in a sun-synchronous polar orbit at an altitude of 595 kilometres. Each satellite has a mass of 135 kilograms, carries a microwave sounding radiometer, and has a design life of 13 years. It aims to address the limitations of global weather observations by providing high-quality polar data. As climate change increases weather variability in the Arctic, these dynamic changes significantly affect weather patterns in Europe, the Northern Hemisphere, and vulnerable regions like the Mediterranean.
EUMETSAT is responsible for developing the ground segment, procuring launch services, and operating the satellites. It is estimated that EPS-Sterna data will generate economic value exceeding €30 billion for Europe. OHB Sweden's industrial team includes approximately 30 European companies, with Sweden and Germany playing key roles.
Fredrik Sjöberg, Managing Director of OHB Sweden, stated, "This contract is an extraordinary milestone for OHB Sweden and the entire Swedish space community. We built the predecessor satellite, the Arctic Weather Satellite, demonstrating its functionality and data quality to improve global weather forecasts." He added that this contract shows OHB Sweden and its partners "are ready to lead, industrialise, and deliver critical space infrastructure for Europe."
The programme builds on the successful experience of OHB Sweden's rapid development of the Arctic Weather Satellite. That satellite was completed in just three years, successfully validating the technical concept and data quality. OHB CEO Marco Fuchs noted, "OHB Sweden's development of a high-performance satellite in an extremely short time demonstrates what can be achieved with clear goals. The Arctic Weather Satellite became a large-scale foundation, proving the feasibility of the new space approach."
This development strengthens Europe's independent Earth observation capabilities. The acquired data will complement the observation networks of EUMETSAT, the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), and China's Fengyun-3 series satellites. Simonetta Cheli, Director of Earth Observation Programmes at the European Space Agency, said, "Data from the Arctic Weather Satellite is being assimilated into operational forecasts by the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts."
Meanwhile, another long-term mission of OHB Sweden, the Odin satellite, is expected to re-enter the atmosphere in the second quarter of 2026. Launched in 2001, the satellite has been operational for over 25 years, far exceeding its two-year design life, and will continue to return data until the end of its mission.
