{"id":4825,"date":"2015-06-23T05:10:01","date_gmt":"2015-06-23T05:10:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/revoscience.com\/en\/?p=4825"},"modified":"2015-06-23T05:10:01","modified_gmt":"2015-06-23T05:10:01","slug":"second-copernicus-environmental-satellite-safely-in-orbit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/second-copernicus-environmental-satellite-safely-in-orbit\/","title":{"rendered":"Second Copernicus environmental satellite safely in orbit"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"http:\/\/www.esa.int\/spaceinvideos\/content\/view\/embedjw\/454703\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" frameborder=\"0\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">The ESA-developed Sentinel satellite \u2013 Sentinel-2A\u00a0\u2013 was launched today, adding a high-resolution optical imaging capability to the European Union Copernicus environmental monitoring system.<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"section\" style=\"color: #031e31;\">\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">The 1.1 tonne satellite was carried on a Vega rocket from Europe\u2019s Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana at 01:52 GMT on 23 June (03:52\u00a0CEST; 22:52 local time, 22 June).<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">The first stage separated 1 min 52 sec after liftoff, followed by the second stage and fairing at 3 min 37 sec and 3 min 54 sec, respectively, and the third stage at 6 min 32 sec.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">After a first ignition, 7 min 42 sec after liftoff, followed by two reignitions, Vega\u2019s upper stage delivered Sentinel-2A into the targeted Sun-synchronous orbit. The satellite separated from the stage 54\u00a0min\u00a043\u00a0sec into the flight.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"s_1\" class=\"section\" style=\"color: #031e31; text-align: justify;\">\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_4827\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-4827\" style=\"width: 170px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><a href=\"http:\/\/revoscience.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/Colour_vision_for_Copernicus_small.jpg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-4827\" src=\"http:\/\/revoscience.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/Colour_vision_for_Copernicus_small.jpg\" alt=\"Colour vision for Copernicus\" width=\"170\" height=\"170\" title=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/Colour_vision_for_Copernicus_small.jpg 170w, https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/Colour_vision_for_Copernicus_small-150x150.jpg 150w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 170px) 100vw, 170px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-4827\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Colour vision for Copernicus<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Telemetry links and attitude control were then established by controllers at ESA\u2019s operations centre in Darmstadt, Germany, allowing activation of Sentinel\u2019s systems to begin. The satellite\u2019s solar panel has already been deployed.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">After this first phase, which typically lasts three days, controllers will begin checking and calibrating the instruments to commission the satellite. The mission is expected to begin operations in three or four\u00a0months.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Six families of Sentinel satellites will make up the core of EU\u2019s Copernicus environmental monitoring network. An EU flagship space initiative, Copernicus will provide operational information on the world\u2019s land surfaces, oceans and atmosphere to support environmental and security policymaking, and meet the needs of citizens and service providers.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">\u201cSentinel-2 is the second satellite of a constellation of 20 satellites which will scrutinise planet Earth and will vastly improve the ability of Copernicus to provide European citizens with the most comprehensive data for environmental and security applications available anywhere in the world,\u201d noted ESA Director General Jean-Jacques Dordain.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Sentinel-2A will complement the all-weather, day-and-night radar imagery provided by the first in the fleet, Sentinel-1A, launched on 3\u00a0April 2014.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"s_2\" class=\"section\" style=\"color: #031e31;\">\n<div class=\"img_obj l_img\" style=\"text-align: justify;\"><\/div>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">\u201cSentinel-2A, with its optical camera, is a complement to the radar images from Sentinel-1A,\u201d said Volker Liebig, ESA\u2019s Director of Earth Observation Programmes. \u201cIt will support important areas of benefit to society such as food security and forest monitoring.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">\u201cIts combination of wide swaths and short revisit time will allow users to view land change and vegetation growth with unprecedented accuracy.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">\u201cBy frequently revisiting areas, it will allow a new generation of operational products, from land cover and change detection maps, disaster maps and leaf area index to chlorophyll content and other bio-geophysical variables.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Data will be provided on a free and open basis. Raw data will be analysed, processed and harmonised by public and private sector service providers.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Sentinel-2B, its twin satellite, is scheduled for launch in mid-2016.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">14 Sentinel satellites are currently planned. In addition, Sentinel-4 and Sentinel-5 will be carried as payload on six meteorological satellites.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The ESA-developed Sentinel satellite \u2013 Sentinel-2A\u00a0\u2013 was launched today, adding a high-resolution optical imaging capability to the European Union Copernicus environmental monitoring system. The 1.1 tonne satellite was carried on a Vega rocket from Europe\u2019s Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana at 01:52 GMT on 23 June (03:52\u00a0CEST; 22:52 local time, 22 June). The first stage [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":4827,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4825","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-space-news"],"featured_image_urls":{"full":["https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/Colour_vision_for_Copernicus_small.jpg",170,170,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/Colour_vision_for_Copernicus_small-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/Colour_vision_for_Copernicus_small.jpg",170,170,false],"medium_large":["https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/Colour_vision_for_Copernicus_small.jpg",170,170,false],"large":["https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/Colour_vision_for_Copernicus_small.jpg",170,170,false],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/Colour_vision_for_Copernicus_small.jpg",170,170,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/Colour_vision_for_Copernicus_small.jpg",170,170,false],"ultp_layout_landscape_large":["https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/Colour_vision_for_Copernicus_small.jpg",170,170,false],"ultp_layout_landscape":["https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/Colour_vision_for_Copernicus_small.jpg",170,170,false],"ultp_layout_portrait":["https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/Colour_vision_for_Copernicus_small.jpg",170,170,false],"ultp_layout_square":["https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/Colour_vision_for_Copernicus_small.jpg",170,170,false],"newspaper-x-single-post":["https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/Colour_vision_for_Copernicus_small.jpg",170,170,false],"newspaper-x-recent-post-big":["https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/Colour_vision_for_Copernicus_small.jpg",170,170,false],"newspaper-x-recent-post-list-image":["https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/Colour_vision_for_Copernicus_small.jpg",65,65,false],"web-stories-poster-portrait":["https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/Colour_vision_for_Copernicus_small.jpg",170,170,false],"web-stories-publisher-logo":["https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/Colour_vision_for_Copernicus_small.jpg",96,96,false],"web-stories-thumbnail":["https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/Colour_vision_for_Copernicus_small.jpg",150,150,false]},"author_info":{"info":["Amrita Tuladhar"]},"category_info":"<a href=\"https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/category\/news\/space-news\/\" rel=\"category tag\">Space\/ AstroPhysics<\/a>","tag_info":"Space\/ AstroPhysics","comment_count":"0","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4825","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4825"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4825\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4827"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4825"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4825"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4825"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}