The third Copernicus Sentinel-2 satellite, Sentinel-2C, was launched in the night of 4 to 5 September aboard the final Vega rocket from the European spaceport in Kourou (French Guiana).
The launch, initially scheduled for the night of 3 to 4 September, was postponed due to electrical problems (see EUROPE 13475/21).
Sentinel-2C was launched into orbit at 03:50 CEST and separated from the Vega rocket at around 04:48 CEST. Around 14 minutes later, at 05:02 CEST, the European Space Agency received the signal indicating that the satellite was safely in orbit.
Commissioner for Internal Market responsible for space industry, Thierry Breton, welcomed the launch. “This will improve sovereign optical data from our planet”, he said.
The Copernicus Sentinel-2 mission provides high-resolution optical images for a wide range of applications, such as agriculture, water quality monitoring and natural disaster management, including forest fires, volcanic eruptions and floods.
It is based on a constellation of two identical satellites flying in the same orbit - a sun-synchronous orbit at an altitude of around 775 km - but 180° apart: Sentinel-2A and Sentinel-2B. Together, they cover all of Earth’s land and coastal waters every five days. Sentinel-2C will soon replace Sentinel-2A, after a brief period of tandem observations.
According to Mauro Facchini, head of the European Commission’s Earth Observation Unit, the aim of launching Sentinel-2C is to “complement and ensure the continuation of the Sentinels”. “The environment in space is quite hostile. Satellites are exposed to radiation and ageing. (...) We aim for a lifespan of (around) 10 years” and the European Commission’s policy is to replace satellites every 10 years, explained Constantin Mavrocordatos, Sentinel-2 project manager at the European Space Agency, at a briefing for journalists, including Agence Europe, on 29 August.
The launch of Sentinel-2C is the 20th and final successful launch for the European Vega rocket, which had already launched Sentinel-2A and Sentinel-2B in 2015 and 2017, among others. The Vega-C rocket is due to take over at the end of the year. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)