Watch for two new Earth-observing missions to launch in the coming years: Hibidis and SOVA-S. When it comes to understanding Earth and our changing environment, space is the place. Not only does it give us an overall holistic view of the planet below, but satellite-based imagery can transcend national boundaries and give us an understanding of key changes that often go unseen at ground level. Now, the European Space Agency (ESA) has chosen two new missions to address key questions in Earth environmental science: Hibidis and SOVA-S. The missions were formally selected by the ESA’s Earth Observation Programme Board, after an extensive 10-month selection process. Hibidis is also known as the Hyper-spectral Biodiversity Scout. The mission will study ecosystem and biodiversity health in the forest and jungles of Earth by looking at the understory spectrum from multiple angles. An artist conception of the Hibidis mission in orbit. Credit: ESA/MediaLab.…