Sony Pixel Power calrec Sony

Copernicus Sentinel-1C Earth observation satellite successfully launched

06/12/2024

Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Sentinel-1C will supply vital radar imagery for understanding climate change and preserving our planet

Kourou, December 6, 2024 - The Copernicus Sentinel-1C Earth observation satellite, built by prime contractor Thales Alenia Space, the joint company between Thales (67%) and Leonardo (33%), was successfully launched by a Vega C rocket operated by Arianespace from Europe's Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana.

Sentinel-1C ESA

Sentinel-1C is part of Copernicus, the Earth Observation component of the European Union's Space Programme. This programme is managed by the European Commission and funded by the EU with a partial contribution of the European Space Agency (ESA), the organisation responsible for the development and launches of dedicated Sentinel satellites. ESA also operates some of the missions and ensures the availability of data.

Sentinel-1C will join the Sentinel-1A satellite in orbit, providing images of the Earth's surface, day and night and in all weather conditions, for a broad array of science applications designed to protect our planet.

This crucial data will be used to monitor landslides, earthquake zones, volcanic activity and variations in polar ice cover. They will also provide valuable insights for monitoring deforestation, the use of water resources and supporting emergency responders and search and rescue teams in the event of natural disasters. In addition, Sentinel-1C is the first satellite of the Sentinel-1 mission to be equipped with an Automatic Identification System payload, enabling it to play a vital role in maritime safety by improving traffic management, avoiding collisions and monitoring ships in critical areas.

Sentinel-1C preparation for fit check Thales Alenia Space_ImaginE

The Sentinel-1 mission comprises two satellites in Sun-synchronous orbit operating in tandem to provide optimal global coverage with a 12-day repeat cycle. Their pre-tasking capability means that data can be acquired consistently over long periods, which is essential for analyzing environmental trends. This data is accessible to public authorities, companies and citizens around the world on a free, full and open basis.

As prime contractor for the Sentinel-1 mission on behalf of ESA, Thales Alenia Space is responsible for satellite design, development, integration and testing. Each Sentinel-1 satellite is built on the PRIMA spacecraft bus developed by Thales Alenia Space for the Italian Space Agency (ASI) and carries a C-band synthetic aperture radar (SAR) instrument developed by Airbus Defence & Space. This SAR instrument enables precise mapping at resolutions up to 5 meters and coverage out to 400 kilometers.

I'm delighted with the successful launch of the Sentinel-1C satellite, which will supply vital radar imagery for a broad array of science applications to help preserve our planet, said Giampiero Di Paolo, Deputy CEO, Senior Vice President Observation, Exploration and Navigation at Thales Alenia Space. The teams at Thales Alenia Space, who are contributing to 11 of the 12 missions in the Copernicus programme, can be proud of this success, which marks a new phase in our collaboration with the European Commission and the European Space Agency.

With a launch mass of around 2.2 metric tons, Sentinel-1C will operate in low-Earth orbit at an altitude of 700 km and has a design life of 7.25 years. It will be joined in orbit by its twin Sentinel-1D, currently undergoing cleanroom tests at Thales Alenia Space's facility in Cannes. These latest Sentinel-1 satellites feature an innovative world first: a patented mechanism to separate the radar antenna from the spacecraft bus on re-entry into Earth's atmosphere at the end of their lifetime, thus helping mitigate orbital debris.

Leonardo contributed to the development of the Sentinel-1C and 1D satellites by supplying the attitude sensors (Autonomous Star Tracker) and the power units that feed the radar, ensuring continuous availability of images.

Data from the Sentinel-1C satellite will be collected by several European centers, including the ground station of the e-GEOS space center, a joint venture between Telespazio (80%) and the Italian space agency (20%), located in Matera, Italy.

About Copernicus

Copernicus is the Earth observation component of the European Union's Space Programme, looking at our planet and its environment to benefit all European citizens. It provides accurate, timely and easily accessible information to improve the management of the environment, understand and mitigate the effects of climate change and ensure civil security. The world's most advanced Earth Observation system, Copernicus provides continuous, free, and reliable Earth observation data and services to public authorities, companies and citizens around the globe.

Copernicus comprises several families of satellites and a series of monitoring networks (e.g. ground based weather stations, ocean buoys and air quality monitoring networks) to provide robust integrated information and to calibrate and validate the data from satellites.

The satellites are built by European prime contractors for ESA. A program of this scale enables Europe to better anticipate the consequences of global warming so that we can safeguard our planet.

The programme is managed by the European Commission and is co-funded by the European Union and ESA. The European Space Agency is responsible for the coordination, implementation and evolution of the programme, as well as the operations of some spacecrafts.

Thales Alenia Space, a key Copernicus partner

Thales Alenia Space is a major contributor to 11 of the Copernicus programme's 12 missions. Sentinel-1 monitors land and sea in all weather conditions, day and night, thanks to its radar capabilities. Sentinel-2 and -3 acquire high-resolution optical image
LINK: https://www.thalesgroup.com/en/worldwide/space/press_release/copernicu...
See more stories from thales

Most recent headlines

05/01/2027

Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be demoed at CES 2026

Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...

04/08/2026

Dalet Announces Commercial Availability of Dalia, Bringing Media-Aware Agentic AI to Enterprise Productions

Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...

04/07/2026

Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in Dolby Cinemas Across Japan, Presented in Dolby Atmos and Dolby ...

April 7 2026, 19:00 (PDT) Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in...

01/06/2026

Dolby Sets the New Standard for Premium Entertainment at CES 2026

January 6 2026, 05:30 (PST) Dolby Sets the New Standard for Premium Entertainment at CES 2026 Throughout the week, Dolby brings to life the latest innovatio...

02/05/2026

Dalet Flex LTS Delivers Smarter Search, Faster Editing, and an AI-Ready Foundation for Modern Media

Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...

01/05/2026

NBCUniversal's Peacock to Be First Streamer to Integrate Dolby's Full Suite of Premium Picture and Sound Innovations

January 5 2026, 18:30 (PST) NBCUniversal's Peacock to Be First Streamer to ...

18/04/2026

The Gauge: Poland | March 2026

The first signs of spring in March led to Poles spending significantly less time in front of their screens, leading to a sharp 22-minute drop in average viewing...

18/04/2026

MediaKind Showcases Multiview Deployments at 2026 NAB Show

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

18/04/2026

Clear-Com Unveils FreeSpeak Cell- A Breakthrough Cellular...

Clear-Com announced FreeSpeak Cell , a cellular-based wireless intercom system that uses LTE and 5G infrastructure to support large-scale production communicat...

18/04/2026

ATSC Offers Free ATSC 3.0 Guide to 2026 NAB Show

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

18/04/2026

Telos Alliance Introduces Four New Products at the 2026 NAB Show

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

18/04/2026

AEQ to Showcase Forum IP Plus and Systel Max at 2026 NAB Show

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

18/04/2026

Nexstar to Appeal Preliminary Injunction Blocking Tegna Deal

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

18/04/2026

TAG Video Systems Brings Realtime Monitoring to AWS Eleme...

New York, NY, April 17, 2026 -- TAG Video Systems has announced an integration with Amazon Web Services (AWS) Elemental MediaConnect Router. The integration bri...

18/04/2026

Pro Sound Effects Launches the First and Only Native Soun...

Pro Sound Effects (PSE), the leading provider of professionally recorded sound effects for film, television, advertising, and technology today announced the lau...

18/04/2026

Fincons Group Achieves AWS Media and Entertainment Compet...

Fincons Group, a multinational IT business consulting and system integrator firm, announced today that it has achieved Amazon Web Services (AWS) Media & Enterta...

18/04/2026

Adobe extends leadership in video: unleashing new AI-powered creation in Firefly, reinventing color for editors in Premiere

Adobe extends leadership in video: unleashing new AI-powered creation in Firefly...

17/04/2026

World Fencing League Announces DAZN as Global Streaming Partner Ahead of April 25 Debut

The World Fencing League (WFL) has announced DAZN as its primary global streamin...

17/04/2026

NAB 2026: ARRI Releases ALEXA 35 SUP 6.0 and LPS-1 SUP 1.3 Software Updates

ARRI Releases ALEXA 35 SUP 6.0 and LPS-1 SUP 1.3 Software Updates ARRI has announced software updates for its ALEXA 35 Live camera and Live Production System L...

17/04/2026

NAB 2026: Sennheiser Announces Spectera Studio System Planner for Spectera Wireless Ecosystem

Sennheiser has announced Spectera Studio, an offline system planner for its Spec...

17/04/2026

Deltatre and DFB Announce DFB.TV+ Streaming Service, Launching May 22

Deltatre and the German Football Association (DFB) have announced DFB.TV+, a DFB-owned direct-to-consumer streaming service developed and operated by Deltatre. ...

17/04/2026

IMG announces senior leadership roles for next phase of growth

Global sports marketing agency IMG has announced new senior leadership roles, designed to strengthen how it supports rightsholders and partners in the midst of ...

17/04/2026

NAB 2026: NAGRAVISION and Harmonic Launch Watermarking-as-a-Service for Live Event Streaming

NAGRAVISION and Harmonic have announced a watermarking-as-a-service solution for...

17/04/2026

NAB 2026: NETGEAR and EVS Announce Technology Partnership for AV-over-IP Live Production

NETGEAR and EVS Broadcast Equipment have announced a global technology partnersh...

17/04/2026

NAB 2026: Americas Broadcasters Launch NEXTGEN TV Converter Box Program

America's broadcasters are launching the NEXTGEN TV Converter Box Program, a new initiative designed to provide millions of American viewers with a low-cost...

17/04/2026

NAB 2026: Quantum to Showcase Tape-Anchored Storage Workflows, Responds to Industry Supply Chain and Power Disruption

Quantum Corp. will exhibit at NAB Show 2026 (Booth N1726), presenting what it ca...

17/04/2026

SVG Marks 20th Anniversary with Plan to Set Course for the Future

Leadership and Staff Announce '20/20 Vision' Playbook...

17/04/2026

TNT Sports Acquires U.S. Broadcast Rights to FIA World Endurance Championship

TNT Sports has announced a multi-year agreement for U.S. media rights to the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC). Three events will air on truTV - the 24 Hou...

17/04/2026

Scripps Sports and PBR Announce Multi-Year Broadcast Partnership for Premier Womens Rodeo

Scripps Sports has announced a multi-year broadcast partnership with PBR (Profes...

17/04/2026

NAB 2026: Adder Technology Releases AIM 6 IP KVM Matrix Management Software

Adder Technology, a specialist in connectivity solutions and high performance IP KVM, today announced the latest release of AIM, its IP KVM matrix management so...

17/04/2026

Victory+ and Dallas Cowboys Announce Multi-Year Content Streaming Partnership

Victory , a free sports streaming platform from A Parent Media Co. Inc. (APMC), has announced a multi-year content distribution partnership with the Dallas Cowb...

17/04/2026

SVG GameDay, Ep. 11: Philadelphia Phillies Arianna Krizek - Baseball at the Bank

In-venue and creative video staffers at the professional and collegiate level have one major thing in common: the intensity and attention to detail ramps up dur...

17/04/2026

Quickplay Deploys Gray Medias New Streaming Platform - Powered by Google Cloud AI - Across 113 Markets

Quickplay has announced the full-scale deployment of Gray Media's streaming ...

17/04/2026

NAB 2026: Clear-Com's New FreeSpeak Cell Addresses Spectrum Congestion

Clear-Com has introduced the FreeSpeak Cell cellular-based wireless intercom system that uses LTE and 5G infrastructure to support large-scale production commun...

17/04/2026

2026 NAB Show Opens Tomorrow, Bringing Industry Together in Vegas

The 2026 NAB Show kicks off Saturday, April 18, with the show floor and exhibits opening April 19-22 at the Las Vegas Convention Center. The show features more ...

17/04/2026

Ratings Roundup: CBS Tees Up Best Masters Since 2015; NBA Sees Big Regular Season Increases

Ratings Roundup is a rundown of recent rating news and is derived from press rel...

17/04/2026

Nuvo Flight mic kit from AEA

Versatile ribbon mic kit revealed The latest arrival to the AEA line-up brings together three contrasting models from their Nuvo range, delivering a versati...

17/04/2026

MPG Awards 2026: Winners announced

Revealed following sold-out MPG Awards ceremony Following another sold-out MPG Awards ceremony at The Troxy in London, the MPG have released a full list of ...

17/04/2026

Maintaining America's Undersea Edge: L3Harris Secures Towed Array Production Through 2029

L3Harris towed array systems provide U.S. Navy submarines with extended acoustic...

17/04/2026

Microsoft Previews 2026 NAB Show Trends, Plans

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

17/04/2026

2026 NAB Show Exhibitor Insight: LTN

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

17/04/2026

Vizrt To Feature Newly Introduced AI Keyer At 2026 NAB Show

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

17/04/2026

Cobalt Digital and SineSix Media Partner to Transform Acc...

Cobalt Digital and SineSix Media Partner to Transform Accessibility Compliance into a More Engaging Viewer Experience at NAB Show 2026 Collaboration integrates...

17/04/2026

Appear appoints Mike Burk as Vice President of Business D...

Strengthening Appear's North America team with a new Vice President of Business Development Appear ASA (Appear, OSE: APR), a global leader in live producti...

17/04/2026

Wowza Launches Video Intelligence Framework to Turn Live...

New framework helps broadcasters, streaming platforms, and sports organizations apply AI to live video for monetization, metadata, highlights, and downstream wo...

17/04/2026

VisualOn and Cires21 Release Joint Research at NAB 2026 S...

New whitepaper gives broadcasters and OTT operators independent, codec-by-codec evidence that the VisualOn Optimizer transforms viewer quality of experience. V...

17/04/2026

Blackmagic Design Announces New Blackmagic URSA Cine Immersive 100G

Blackmagic Design Announces New Blackmagic URSA Cine Immersive 100G Brie Clayton April 17, 2026 0 Comments World's first immersive cinema camera f...

17/04/2026

NAB 2026: Vubiquity and Eluvio Showcase Streaming Solution that Significantly Reduces Distribution Costs and Time to Market

NAB 2026: Vubiquity and Eluvio Showcase Streaming Solution that Significantly Re...

17/04/2026

What Makes a Good Marathon Running Playlist?

What Makes a Good Marathon Running Playlist? We asked Xander Dawson, an eighth-semester saxophone major at Boston Conservatory running the Boston Marathon thi...

17/04/2026

Wowza Launches Video Intelligence Framework

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...