FLEX satellite receives key FLORIS instrument for final testing
by Erica Marchand
Paris, France (SPX) Aug 15, 2025
The European Space Agency's FLEX Earth Explorer mission has reached a major milestone with the integration of its sole instrument, FLORIS, onto the satellite platform.

The assembly took place at Thales Alenia Space in Cannes, France, after FLORIS arrived from Leonardo's facility in Florence, Italy. Designed to map global vegetation fluorescence, FLORIS will quantify photosynthetic activity and detect plant stress from orbit.

Photosynthesis sustains life by converting carbon dioxide into oxygen, but it also produces a faint fluorescence signal invisible to the human eye. This signal changes with plant health and environmental conditions, providing a valuable measure of ecosystem vitality.

FLEX will detect and analyse this signal from space, delivering unprecedented insights into plant health monitoring. Thales Alenia Space, the mission's prime contractor, oversaw the platform's assembly, integration, and testing at its Belfast, Northern Ireland, cleanroom before the current integration phase in Cannes.

With the spacecraft now fully assembled, the team will proceed with final test campaigns ahead of the planned 2026 launch.

Related Links
FLEX at ESA
Space Technology News - Applications and Research