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A cloud profiling radar developed by JAXA will fly on board Europe's Earthcare satellite in 2013. Astrium GmbH won the contract – worth €263 million – to provide the satellite from the European Space Agency.

This is the sixth Earth Explorer mission of ESA's Living Planet Program. The contract covers the design, development and integration of the satellite.

Earthcare is designed for atmospheric monitoring. It will carry four instruments. Apart from the cloud profiler, it will also carry an Atmospheric Lidar, a Broad-Band Radiometer and a Multi-Spectral Imager developed by ESA.

This instrument suite has been optimised to provide a complete description of the state of the atmosphere along the satellite's flight track.

The joint European-Japanese mission is designed to address the need for a better understanding of the interactions between cloud, radiative and aerosol processes that play a role in climate regulation.

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