The French Space Agency CNES awarded the formal construction contract to Airbus Defence and Space on 27 April 2014 for the MERLIN (MEthane Remote sensing LIdar missioN) spacecraft to monitor Methane emissions on the planet Earth. The contract is was worth €30 million. The 400kg spacecraft will use the Astrobus-S bus design. The spacecraft will carry the Myriade Lidar produced by the DLR – German Aerospace Centre. The launch has been set for 2019.