11/09/2025
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The fourth satellite tv for pc for the Copernicus Sentinel-1 mission, Sentinel-1D, has arrived at Félix Eboué airport, the principle airport in French Guiana. From there the spacecraft, safely saved in its protecting casing, can be transported to launch preparation services on the European Spaceport in Kourou.
That is the beginning of a launch marketing campaign that may lead as much as the launch date, nonetheless to be introduced. The satellite tv for pc will attain its orbit on board an Ariane 6.
In the meantime, the Sentinel-1 mission will proceed to ship a provide of radar pictures of Earth’s floor, performing in all weathers, day-and-night. It makes a key contribution to Europe’s Copernicus programme by supporting a broad vary of functions that assist handle the environment, perceive and deal with the consequences of local weather change and safeguard on a regular basis lives.
The Sentinel-1 mission has contributed knowledge to scientific research on a variety of matters, together with these current examples:
Sentinel-1D will proceed this work and can now bear a sequence of launch preparation actions to make sure it’s prepared for liftoff.
Ramón Torres, Sentinel-1 Satellite tv for pc Mission Director at ESA, commented, “This time we’re launching the fourth Sentinel-1 satellite tv for pc, and final of the primary era, on an Ariane 6, which can be an vital second for the entire of our house neighborhood. To see this mission, the primary of the Copernicus programme household and a cornerstone of the Earth statement element of Europe’s house programme, be lifted into orbit on Europe’s latest heavy carry rocket, feels fairly momentous. I want to thank and congratulate all Sentinel-1 workforce members and our companions who’ve labored so diligently to make this milestone an enormous success.”
Simonetta Cheli, Director of Earth Statement Programmes at ESA, added, “It’s actually a credit score to the robust partnership between ESA and the European Fee that we at the moment are making ready to launch one other satellite tv for pc for the Copernicus programme. Sentinel-1 has offered important radar knowledge that has been utilized in emergency responses, in scientific research and in local weather statement – a spread of use-cases that highlights simply how invaluable Copernicus is to our society.”
The Copernicus Sentinel-1 mission is predicated on a constellation of two an identical satellites flying in the identical orbit however 180° aside, to optimise international protection and knowledge supply for Copernicus.
Sentinel-1A was the primary satellite tv for pc within the sequence, launched in April 2014, adopted by the launch of Sentinel-1B in 2016. The Sentinel-1B mission got here to an finish in August 2022 after experiencing a technical fault that rendered it unable to accumulate knowledge. The satellite tv for pc has been efficiently de-orbited and can re-enter Earth’s environment inside 25 years. Sentinel-1C was launched in December 2024 to take over the position of Sentinel-1B.
Sentinel-1D will launch later this 12 months.
Radar imaginative and prescient for Copernicus
Sentinel-1D has a C-band artificial aperture radar (SAR) instrument on board, 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 broad swath and high-resolution, offering detailed knowledge on land subsidence, ice actions and ocean situations.
And just like the Sentinel-1C satellite tv for pc that was launched final 12 months, Sentinel-1D will even carry an Automated Identification System (AIS), which is a brand new instrument designed to enhance the SAR payload knowledge for maritime ship site visitors monitoring functions.
