An artist’s rendition of the Sentinel-5P satellite about to be launched from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome in Russia. Image credit: ESA/Airbus.Readying for a late September or early November launch, the UK-built Sentinel-5P satellite will be monitoring and measuring the pollution levels of individual countries worldwide.

Set to begin its journey from Airbus Defence and Space in Stevenage, U.K., to Plesetsk Cosmodrome in Russia as part of the Copernicus Programme (the world’s largest Earth observation venture led by the European Commission (EC) and the European Space Agency (ESA)), the satellite will be looking at methane and nitrogen oxide levels in an effort to more accurately report on global pollution conditions.

In addition, the satellite may also provide information concerning volcanic ash concentrations and levels of UV radiation.

With the plan to conduct 20 individual missions, researchers believe that the data obtained from the Copernicus Programme will be extremely valuable.

Josef Aschbacher, director of Earth observation programs at ESA, claims, “a system like this has never existed before” and that “the U.S. and other partners are looking to Europe to make deals to get access to this data.”