The British-built Sentinel-5P satellite was successfully launched from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome in northern Russia on 13 October.
Manufactured by Airbus in Stevenage, it is the first satellite in the European Commission’s Copernicus programme, which is dedicated to monitoring the atmosphere.
Its Dutch-designed Tropomi instrument will make 20 million observations around the Earth every day, mapping gases such as methane, carbon monoxide, ozone and aerosols.
Colin Paynter, managing director of Airbus Defence and Space UK, said: “It’s not the largest or most complicated satellite we have built, but in many ways it is a ground-breaking satellite for us.”
The Sentinel-5P is one of eight missions using the same satellite platform design, so it was one of the fastest and most predictable build programmes.
Mr Paynter called it a “truly European” collaboration — led by Stevenage, with other work in Toulouse and elsewhere.
Iain Williams from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs said: “Air quality is of critical importance to this Government. We look forward to seeing how we can use Sentinel-5P data going forward.”