OHB Sweden wins €248 million contract to build EPS-Sterna constellation
OHB’s Swedish subsidiary has secured a €248 million contract from the European Space Agency (ESA) to develop and build the EUMETSAT Polar System – Sterna (EPS‑Sterna) satellite constellation, a programme aimed at enhancing Europe’s weather monitoring capabilities over the Arctic and global regions. The agreement, signed in mid‑March 2026, tasks OHB Sweden with producing 20 small polar‑orbiting satellites that will fill critical data gaps beyond the reach of existing geostationary systems and support more frequent atmospheric observations for forecasting and climate models.
Under the EPS‑Sterna initiative, the constellation will be assembled using a “New Space” production approach and is funded by ESA on behalf of EUMETSAT member states, with the first group of satellites expected for launch beginning around 2029. These spacecraft will operate in polar, sun‑synchronous orbits and carry microwave sounding instruments to deliver temperature, humidity and cloud data across high latitudes and mid‑latitudes, a capability designed to complement existing European meteorological assets and contribute to global weather prediction models. The EPS‑Sterna programme builds on the operational success of the precursor Arctic Weather Satellite mission and is intended to provide a continuous stream of observations through the constellation’s planned lifetime.
The contract represents one of the largest institutional small‑satellite awards for the OHB group and underscores a broader push within European space agencies to enhance sovereign and cooperative Earth observation infrastructure amid rising demand for climate and weather data. Delivery of the EPS‑Sterna satellites both advances industrial capacity for series production of spacecraft in Europe and supports long‑term meteorological data continuity, potentially increasing the resilience and precision of numerical weather prediction systems used by national services and global partners.
