In preparation for liftoff on 4 September 2024 (3 September Kourou time), the Vega–Sentinel-2C upper-composite has been hoisted into the launch tower at Europe’s Spaceport.
The Sentinel-2 mission is predicated on a constellation of two similar satellites, Sentinel-2A (launched in 2015) and Sentinel-2B (launched in 2017), flying in the identical orbit however 180° aside to optimise protection and revisit time.
Every satellite tv for pc carries a high-resolution multispectral imager to ship optical photos from the seen to the shortwave-infrared area of the electromagnetic spectrum. From the altitude of 786 km, the satellites present photos in 13 spectral bands with resolutions of 10, 20 and 60 m over a big swath width of 290 km.
Knowledge collected from Sentinel-2 are used for a variety of purposes, together with precision farming, water high quality monitoring, pure catastrophe administration and methane emission detection.
Sentinel-2C launches on Vega, Europe’s nimble rocket specialising in launching small scientific and Earth remark spacecraft akin to to sun-synchronous polar orbits, following the Solar.
At 30 m tall, Vega weighs 137 tonnes on the launch pad and reaches orbit with three solid-propellant powered phases earlier than the fourth liquid-propellant stage takes over for exact placement of Sentinel-2C into its orbit. By rocket requirements Vega is lightweight and highly effective, the primary three phases burn by their gas and convey Vega and its satellite tv for pc to house in simply seven minutes.
As soon as in orbit, Sentinel-2C will change its predecessor, Sentinel-2A, whereas Sentinel-2D will later change Sentinel-2B.
