As you might well be aware SMOS was intended to be operated for five years and, this coming November, the 5 year period will be finished.So both the Centre National d’Etudes Spatiales (CNES) through the REDEM process and the European Space Agency analysed possibility to extend SMOS mission.The CNES’ SMOS extension review took place on 14 April 2014, reviewing the technical  status  of  the  Proteus  platform  as  well  as the scientific advancements and finally the CNES steering committee approved the extension of the SMOS mission up to end of 2017 on June 14th.A few days after, on June 25th, following a similar review process involving ESAC, we had the final decision at ESA’s Programme Board for Earth Observation for the SMOS mission extension, which delegations approved until the end of EOEP-4, i.e. February 2017.All this is very good news and shows the appreciation for the SMOS mission over recent years, be it on the technical or scientific side, so many thanks to you all!

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