Success of the SCARBOn TRR meeting: Airborne campaign around the corner

The SCARBOn team successfully held the Test Readiness Review (TRR) meeting for the NanoCarb prototype (NanoCarb-P) instrument. This important milestone confirms that the upgraded miniaturised static spectrometer NanoCarb, offering designed to measure atmospheric concentrations of CO₂ and CH₄, is fully functional, stable, and ready to be installed on the aircraft. Next step: airborne, demonstration campaign to validate performance and calibration, within a future programme. As part of the broader SCARBOn mission, which develops a new concept of small satellite formations for precise CO₂ and CH₄ monitoring, this airborne phase is key to advancing the NanoCarb sensor toward future space deployment.

Within the SCARBOn project, the NanoCarb prototype instrument has undergone several major improvements to its interferometric core design, components, and overall operability, achieving:

• Increased sensitivity
• Stabilised performance across the field of view
• Global performance optimisation
• Smooth aircraft interfacing for the airborne demonstration
• Improved thermal behaviour

The TRR meeting, led by SCARBOn partner UGA with contributions from Absolut Systems and ONERA, presented the upgraded instrument’s assembly and integration status, as well as results from thermal and optical testing. It has been confirmed that the main component specifications have been reached. Thus, the instrument is fully operational and will be soon challenged to detect a CO₂ plumes, which will be one of the primary objectives of the upcoming in-flight validation campaign.

In the coming days, NanoCarb‑P will be integrated into the ICGC aircraft and prepared for the airborne validation campaign in Germany during the Easter period.  

​Stay tuned to the SCARBOn LinkedIn profile for updates from the airborne campaign: https://www.linkedin.com/company/scarbon-project/about