[SatNews] "We are very proud to have been chosen once again to support the European Union's space objectives, and to contribute to programs designed to protect our planet and support sustainable development."
The European Space Agency (ESA) and Arianespace announced they have signed a launch contract for the second radar satellite in the Sentinel-1 mission, Sentinel-1B, part of Copernicus, a joint European Union and European Space Agency (ESA) environmental monitoring program. The launch is scheduled on a Soyuz rocket in 2016 from the Guiana Space Center, Europe's Spaceport in French Guiana.
The contract between ESA and Arianespace to launch the Sentinel-1B satellite was signed on July 17, 2014 by ESA’s Director of Earth Observation Programs, Volker Liebig, and CEO of Arianespace, Stéphane Israël, at ESA headquarters in Paris, France. Sentinel-1B will be launched on a Russian Soyuz rocket from Europe’s Spaceport near Kourou in French Guiana in early 2016. It will join its twin, Sentinel-1A, which was launched in April 2014. Orbiting Earth 180 degrees apart, the constellation will optimize data delivery and revisits everywhere on Earth every six days. The Sentinel-1 mission is dedicated to providing radar imagery of Earth for Europe’s Copernicus program.
Sentinel-1B is a C-band radar observation satellite, using SAR (synthetic aperture radar) technology. It will be placed in a Sun-synchronous orbit at an altitude of about 690 km. This satellite is identical to the Sentinel-1A, successfully launched on April 3, 2014, also by a Soyuz rocket from the Guiana Space Center.
As part of the Copernicus program, Sentinel-1B will round out the initial capacity offered by Sentinel-1A to offer a comprehensive response to the need for environmental and security monitoring via spaceborne radar systems.
Sentinel-1B will be designed and built by Thales Alenia Space Italy, and will weigh about 2,300 kg at launch.
At the contract signature, Arianespace Chairman and CEO Stéphane Israël said: " I would like to express my thanks to the European Space Agency, in charge of the Copernicus space segment, for our unrivaled long-standing partnership. We are very proud to have been chosen once again to support the European Union's space objectives, and to contribute to programs designed to protect our planet and support sustainable development. I would also like to thank the European Commission for entrusting us again with a key mission.
Thanks to our family of three launchers, Ariane, Soyuz and Vega, all operational from the Guiana Space Center, Arianespace guarantees Europe independent access to space."
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