§ Mr. FlynnTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what contribution Her Majesty's Government have made to the development and use of(a) the European remote sensing satellite and (b) the along-track scanning radiometer.
§ Mr. LeighThe Government have contributed almost £69 million to the European Space Agency's first European remote sensing satellite, ERS-1, which is due to be launched shortly. The Science and Engineering Research Council has also spent some £6 million in developing and supplying the along-track scanning94W radiometer—ATSR—instrument which will be flown on this satellite. Through the British developed synthetic aperture radar instrument to be carried on ERS-1, we will gain the capability to observe the earth's surface through cloud and in darkness. The ATSR will provide unprecedently accurate measurement of sea surface temperature.