[SatNews] The European Space Agency (ESA) and Arianespace have signed a launch Service & Solutions contract for the Sentinel-1A satellite as part of the European program GMES (Global Monitoring for Environment and Security).

The satellite is scheduled for launch in December, 2012, by a Soyuz rocket from the Guiana Space Center, Europe's Spaceport in French Guiana. Sentinel-1A is an Earth observation satellite with a C-band synthetic aperture radar (SAR) type sensor. It will be placed in Sun-synchronous circular orbit at an altitude of approximately 690 kilometers. Operating within the scope of the European GMES program, Sentinel-1A will meet upcoming environmental management needs. Sentinel-1A is now being developed and will be integrated by Thales Alenia Space Italy. It will weigh approximately 2,300 kg at launch. Since the beginning of the year, Arianespace has signed 11 launch contracts for geostationary satellites, and seven contracts for dedicated Soyuz missions.