missions

FLEX (FLuorescence EXplorer)

ESA Earth Explorer 8 mission, launch expected 2026; carries FLORIS (Fluorescence Imaging Spectrometer) operating at 500-780 nm with 0.1 nm sampling in O2-A/B bands; first mission dedicated exclusively to global SIF mapping at 300 m resolution.

FLEX (FLuorescence EXplorer) is the eighth Earth Explorer mission selected by ESA, planned for launch in September 2026 on a Vega-C rocket in tandem with the Copernicus Sentinel-3C satellite. FLEX is planned to fly approximately 40 to 100 km ahead of Sentinel-3C in the same orbital plane at 815 km altitude in a sun-synchronous orbit, enabling simultaneous surface reflectance corrections using Sentinel-3 OLCI data.^[1]^[2]

The mission carries the FLORIS (FLuORescence Imaging Spectrometer) instrument, a pushbroom spectrometer operating across 500 to 780 nm with 0.1 nm spectral sampling in the oxygen A-band and B-band windows used for sun-induced fluorescence (SIF) retrieval. FLORIS is planned to deliver SIF maps at 300 m spatial resolution over a 150 km swath with a 27-day revisit cycle, providing global-scale SIF measurement as an ESA Earth Explorer mission.^[1]^[3]

SIF from FLEX is intended to enable estimation of photosynthetic activity and carbon uptake across vegetation types, with applications in crop stress monitoring and ecosystem carbon cycle assessment. The satellite's planned mass is approximately 400 kg.^[1]

Named with

In the same stories

European Space Agency Operator · named together · 2 stories
Arianespace Vega C Launch service · named together · 1 story

Supply chain position

operated by European Space Agency

launched on Arianespace Vega C

related to Crop stress and yield

related to Greenhouse gas inventory

related to CO2

Sources

[1]FLEX Facts and Figures - ESAagency doc2026-06-11
[2]FLEX - ESA Earth Onlineagency doc2026-06-11
[3]FLEX (Fluorescence Explorer) - eoPortalcommunity2026-06-11
[4]FLEX mission overview - ESAoperator marketing2026-06-11
[5]FLEX and Sentinel-3C launched, ESAoperator press2026-10-19

Cite https://eo-atlas.org/missions/flex Markdown twin → Field definitions → Suggest a correction →

How to cite this page

Plain text

FLEX (FLuorescence EXplorer). EO-Atlas, SpectraWorks B.V. https://eo-atlas.org/missions/flex (CC BY 4.0)

BibTeX

@misc{eoatlas:missions:flex,
  title = {FLEX (FLuorescence EXplorer)},
  author = {{EO-Atlas}},
  publisher = {SpectraWorks B.V.},
  note = {CC BY 4.0},
  url = {https://eo-atlas.org/missions/flex}
}