PROBA-V

PROBA-V is a minisatellite launched by the European Space Agency (ESA) in May 2013 to map land cover and vegetation growth across the globe. It monitors global plant health daily, which is crucial for agricultural and climate research. It provided continuous data for scientists tracking deforestation and crop yields.

The "V" stands for Vegetation, representing the satellite's main payload, the Vegetation instrument. This sensor was specifically designed to track plant health and environmental changes on a global scale. It allowed scientists to view the "greenness" of the Earth to monitor ecological health.

It was specifically designed to fill the data gap between the aging French SPOT Vegetation instrument and ESA's upcoming Sentinel-3 mission. This ensured the continuity of global vegetation data without interruption in the mid-2010s. Bridging this gap was vital for long-term climate and agricultural tracking.

PROBA-V is classified as a minisatellite, weighing less than 200 kilograms and being roughly the size of a small refrigerator. Despite its small size, it provides a massive swath width of 2,200 kilometers to image the entire Earth every two days. This proved that highly capable Earth observation tools could be built on a micro-budget.