Following its journey from Cannes, France, by way of Turin, Italy, Sentinel-1C has safely landed in Kourou, French Guiana, after being transported on an Antonov plane. It would now bear a collection of launch preparation actions to make sure it’s prepared for liftoff.

Ramón Torres, Sentinel-1 Mission Supervisor at ESA, commented, “Launching on the Vega-C return to flight is actually a formidable problem, however because of the extraordinary effort and meticulous planning by AVIO and Arianespace, the Sentinel-1 staff is crammed with confidence.

“The staff is guaranteeing that no stone has been left unturned to make sure that this extraordinary satellite tv for pc is launched with the utmost security and precision. The staff eagerly awaits the second when their laborious work and dedication culminate in a flawless launch, marking one other milestone for the Copernicus programme.”

Simonetta Cheli, Director of Earth Statement Programmes at ESA, added, “The Sentinel-1 mission highlights the sturdy partnership between ESA and the European Fee to offer important radar information that Europe depends on. With Sentinel-1C now in French Guiana, we’re furthering the vital work of Copernicus.”

The Copernicus Sentinel-1 mission supplies all-weather, day-and-night radar imagery for the worldwide monitoring of Earth’s land and oceans – supporting environmental administration, catastrophe response and local weather change analysis.

The Sentinel-1 mission, the primary within the household of Copernicus, relies on a constellation of two an identical satellites flying in the identical orbit however 180° aside, to optimise world protection and information supply for Copernicus, the Earth commentary part of the European Union’s Area Programme, managed by the European Fee.

Sentinel-1A was the primary satellite tv for pc within the collection, launched in April 2014, adopted by the launch of Sentinel-1B in 2016. The Sentinel-1B mission got here to an finish in December 2022 after experiencing a technical fault that rendered it unable to amass information. The satellite tv for pc has been efficiently de-orbited and can re-enter Earth’s ambiance inside 25 years.

Sentinel-1C will quickly take over the function of Sentinel-1B within the mission.

Radar imaginative and prescient for Copernicus

As a complicated radar mission, Copernicus Sentinel-1 can picture the floor of Earth by way of cloud and rain and no matter whether or not it’s day or night time.

Sentinel-1 carries a C-band artificial aperture radar (SAR) instrument, which permits it to seize high-resolution imagery of Earth’s floor. This highly effective radar system operates in a number of modes, together with extensive swath and high-resolution, offering detailed information on land subsidence, ice actions and ocean circumstances.

The SAR instrument is especially efficient for catastrophe response, akin to monitoring floods, landslides and oil spills, providing well timed and correct info to assist humanitarian and environmental efforts.

The brand new Sentinel-1C satellite tv for pc will even carry a brand new Computerized Identification System (AIS). Developed by the Worldwide Maritime Organisation, this technique is designed to assist ships keep away from collisions, significantly when they’re too removed from land-based radar methods. This expertise assigns a novel ID to every vessel and tracks its place and actions in real-time, making a digital map of the ships at sea.

By combining radar photos from satellites with AIS indicators, information customers can rapidly detect and determine vessels in a big space of the ocean without delay in real-time. It is a distinctive instrument not solely to trace the motion of every ship, displaying its ID, route and velocity, but in addition detect piracy actions – important for worldwide organisations and corporations monitoring world transport site visitors.