With equipment from DTU Space on board, NASA’s climate mission CLARREO Pathfinder was successfully launched from Johnson Space Center in Houston, USA, on Saturday (16 May 2026).
"The purpose of the CLARREO mission is to determine more precisely how large a share of the Sun’s incoming light and energy is reflected directly away from our atmosphere - primarily from the tops of clouds. This is important for interpreting the climate at Earth’s surface and predicting how it will change," says Professor and Head of Division at DTU Space, John Leif Jørgensen.
The mission had been postponed due to a large number of commercial rocket launches using the same type of SpaceX rocket planned for the CLARREO mission, which had moved ahead in the queue. However, it has now successfully been sent on its way.
CLARREO will be installed on the International Space Station (ISS), from where it will deliver the most precise measurements to date of Earth’s energy balance. The instruments measure the relationship between the solar energy reflected from Earth back into space and the portion that is absorbed and thereby contributes to global warming.
Technology from DTU ensures precise measurements
CLARREO Pathfinder is a key mission in NASA’s climate program and serves as a so-called reference or calibration mission. Data from the instrument will be used to adjust and improve measurements from a number of Earth observation satellites, making overall climate models more accurate.
DTU Space plays a central role in the mission and has developed advanced positioning and navigation equipment based on digital camera technology to ensure that the instruments are pointed extremely steadily and accurately at their targets.
The camera-based technology from DTU ensures that the instruments remain correctly oriented at all times, even under the influence of movements of the space station, other spacecraft, and onboard activities. This is a prerequisite for accurately measuring small variations in the amount of sunlight reflected from Earth.
"Measuring such small variations in Earth’s energy balance requires extreme stability. Our technology helps ensure that the instruments are pointed with sufficient precision for the data to be used as a reference for future climate measurements," says John Leif Jørgensen.
According to NASA, the measurements from CLARREO will be five to ten times more accurate than existing observations. By conducting measurements in space from the ISS - away from the disturbances caused by the Earth's atmosphere - a level of accuracy is achieved that makes it possible to detect even small changes in the climate earlier than today.
Space based technology increase accuracy
The mission is part of a broader international effort to improve the monitoring of Earth’s climate from space.
In these years, a number of satellites and instruments are being launched to measure, among other things, sea level rise, ice melt, and the exchange of CO₂ in the oceans.
In addition to technology and instruments for CLARREO, DTU Space also contributes technology to a number of other of these international climate missions.
Read more at NASA
