Subscribe free to our newsletters via your
. 24/7 Space News .




EARTH OBSERVATION
Europe lofts first Copernicus environmental satellite
by Staff Writers
Kourou, French Guiana (ESA) Apr 04, 2014


Designed as a two-satellite constellation - Sentinel-1A and -1B - the C band radar mission will provide all-weather day-and-night imagery of land and ocean surfaces of Europe, Canada and the polar regions in near real time.

The ability of European citizens, policymakers and service providers to access key environmental data on a routine basis will take a major step forward following the launch today of ESA's Sentinel-1A satellite.

The 2.3 tonne satellite lifted off on a Soyuz rocket from Europe's Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana at 21:02 GMT (23:02 CEST). The first stage separated 118 sec later, followed by the fairing (209 sec), stage 2 (287 sec) and the upper assembly (526 sec).

After a 617 sec burn, the Fregat upper stage delivered Sentinel into a Sun-synchronous orbit at 693 km altitude. The satellite separated from the upper stage 23 min 24 sec after liftoff.

"Sentinel-1A opens a new page in the implementation of Copernicus, the second EU flagship space initiative, after the Galileo positioning system," said Jean-Jacques Dordain, Director General of ESA.

"The Copernicus programme will provide European citizens with the most ambitious space-based services in the world for environmental and security applications.

"The cooperation between the EU and ESA Member States in the funding of the space infrastructure, the combination of competences and expertise between the European Commission and ESA, and the capabilities of European industry, are putting Europe at the forefront of utilisation of space to benefit citizens, policymakers and the economy."

The mission is the first of six families of dedicated missions that will make up the core of Europe's Copernicus environmental monitoring network. Copernicus will provide operational information on the world's land surfaces, oceans and atmosphere to support environmental and security policymaking and the needs of individual citizens and service providers.

Designed as a two-satellite constellation - Sentinel-1A and -1B - the C band radar mission will provide all-weather day-and-night imagery of land and ocean surfaces of Europe, Canada and the polar regions in near real time.

Equipped with a powerful 'synthetic aperture radar', it will ensure continuity with the European Envisat satellite, which stopped working in 2012 after 10 years of service. The technology is based on a long heritage of radar satellites, starting with ERS-1 23 years ago.

"The launch of the first Sentinel-1 satellite marks a change in philosophy for our Earth observation programmes," said Volker Liebig, ESA's Director of Earth Observation Programmes. "In meteorology, satellites have been providing reliable data for weather forecasts for over 35 years.

"With the Copernicus programme, we will now have a similar information source for environmental services as well as for applications in the security and disaster management domain."

In addition to transmitting data to a number of ground stations around the world for rapid dissemination, Sentinel-1 is also equipped with a laser terminal to transmit data via European Data Relay System satellites in geostationary orbit for continual data delivery.

The satellite's solar panels and antenna are now being deployed in a complex sequence expected to take around 11 hours. The completion of deployment will be announced at www.esa.int/sentinel-1 and via Twitter @ESA_EO

After the initial 'launch and early orbit phase', the satellite will go into the commissioning phase, when all instruments will be checked and calibrated. The mission is expected to begin operations within three months.

Thales Alenia Space Italy is the prime contractor and Airbus DS Germany is responsible for the C band radar. Airbus DS UK supplied the central radar electronics subsystem.

Data from the Sentinel satellites will be provided on a free and open basis. Raw data will be analysed and processed by public and private sector service providers.

.


Related Links
Sentinel-1 at ESA
Earth Observation News - Suppiliers, Technology and Application






Comment on this article via your Facebook, Yahoo, AOL, Hotmail login.

Share this article via these popular social media networks
del.icio.usdel.icio.us DiggDigg RedditReddit GoogleGoogle




Memory Foam Mattress Review
Newsletters :: SpaceDaily :: SpaceWar :: TerraDaily :: Energy Daily
XML Feeds :: Space News :: Earth News :: War News :: Solar Energy News





EARTH OBSERVATION
NASA Radar Watches Over California's Aging Levees
Pasadena CA (JPL) Apr 02, 2014
One morning in 2008, research scientist Cathleen Jones of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., was flying over the San Andreas fault near San Francisco, testing a new radar instrument built at JPL. As the plane banked to make a turn, she looked down to see the Sacramento River delta, a patchwork of low-lying lands crisscrossed by levees. Jones was using an instrument that ... read more


EARTH OBSERVATION
Misleading mineral may have resulted in overestimate of water in moon

Scientists date Moon at 4.470 billion years

Unique camera from NASA's moon missions sold at auction

Expeditions to the Moon: beware of meteorites

EARTH OBSERVATION
The Opposition of Mars

Health risks of Mars mission would exceed NASA limits

Mars and Earth move closer together this month

Mars yard ready for Red Planet rover

EARTH OBSERVATION
NASA Commercial Crew Partners Complete Space System Milestones

NASA suspends Russia ties, except on space station

China, Asia-Pacific, will power world tourism: survey

NASA Marks Major Milestone for Spaceport of the Future

EARTH OBSERVATION
China launches experimental satellite

Tiangong's New Mission

"Space Odyssey": China's aspiration in future space exploration

China to launch first "space shuttle bus" this year

EARTH OBSERVATION
Soyuz Docking Delayed Till Thursday as Station Crew Adjusts Schedule

US, Russian astronauts take new trajectory to dock the ISS

Software glitch most probable cause of Soyuz TMA-12 taking two day approach

Russian spacecraft brings three-man crew to ISS after two-day delay

EARTH OBSERVATION
Soyuz ready for Sentinel-1A satellite launch

Boeing wins contract to design DARPA Airborne Satellite Launch

EUTELSAT 3B Mission Status Update

Arianespace's seventh Soyuz mission from French Guiana is readied for liftoff next week

EARTH OBSERVATION
Lick's Automated Planet Finder: First robotic telescope for planet hunters

Space Sunflower May Help Snap Pictures of Planets

NRL Researchers Detect Water Around a Hot Jupiter

UK joins the planet hunt with Europe's PLATO mission

EARTH OBSERVATION
NASA Awards Digital Processor Assembly Contract for LCRD Flight Payload

Space Observation Optics Cover from IR to X-ray Wavelengths

The Space Debris Radar Developed By Indra Passes ESA Tests

World's most powerful VHF radar to be overhauled in Russia




The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2014 - Space Media Network. All websites are published in Australia and are solely subject to Australian law and governed by Fair Use principals for news reporting and research purposes. AFP, UPI and IANS news wire stories are copyright Agence France-Presse, United Press International and Indo-Asia News Service. ESA news reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement, agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. Privacy Statement All images and articles appearing on Space Media Network have been edited or digitally altered in some way. Any requests to remove copyright material will be acted upon in a timely and appropriate manner. Any attempt to extort money from Space Media Network will be ignored and reported to Australian Law Enforcement Agencies as a potential case of financial fraud involving the use of a telephonic carriage device or postal service.