The main scientific instrument aboard Biomass will be a synthetic aperture radar (SAR) operating at 435 MHz.
[6][7][8] The Biomass mission is planned to continue its observation of Earth for five years after launch, during which it will provide detailed information about at least eight growth cycles in the world's forests.
[9] In 2016, it was announced that Airbus Defence and Space UK will build the satellite under a contract valued at 229 million euros.
[10][11] Biomass is equipped with a P-band Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR), which is built in Friedrichshafen, Germany[11] and a large 12-m deployable antenna supplied by L3Harris[12].
This will allow it to provide accurate maps of tropical, temperate and boreal forest biomass that are not obtainable by ground measurement techniques.