Starion is celebrating the successful launch last night of the Copernicus Sentinel-1C satellite by the European Space Agency (ESA). Experts from Starion have been instrumental in the preparations for activities that will take place after the launch, including the commissioning and operational phases. In addition, Starion’s MOIS tool suite is being used at ESA’s European Space Operations Centre (ESOC) in Germany in support of mission operations.
The Copernicus Sentinel-1C satellite was successfully launched from ESA’s European spaceport in French Guiana last night on board a Vega-C rocket. Following its launch and early orbit phase (LEOP) and subsequent commissioning phase, it will join Sentinel-1A in providing all-weather, day-and-night imagery of Earth’s land and oceans. The global monitoring provided by the Sentinel-1 mission supports environmental management, disaster response and climate change research.
In common with other Sentinel missions, Sentinel-1 was designed to operate with a pair of satellites – Sentinel-1A was launched in 2014, followed by Sentinel-1B in 2016. It is the only satellite radar mission that provides data to users on a full, free and open basis, and to date the mission has generated over 30 petabytes of data.
Satellites have a finite lifespan, so replacements are planned in advance to ensure continuity of data from each Sentinel mission. In this case, the launch of Sentinel-1C is particularly important because Sentinel-1B’s operations ended in 2022 due to a technical fault, and the remaining Sentinel-1 satellite is now over 10 years old.
Starion’s support for Sentinel-1C
Starion’s Mario Sansone, Sentinel Mission Planning Engineer, is part of a team of mission planners who work on both Sentinel-1 and Sentinel-2. Mario has worked on the Sentinel-1 mission since before the first satellite was launched, and has been actively involved in Sentinel-1C for a year, preparing the plans that will be used to execute all the testing during the commissioning phase. These tests check the health of the satellite and instruments in different modes and at different periods of time. The team are also responsible for preparing plans of the first images that will be made available from the new mission.
Mario gave his reaction to the launch: “During the launch of any satellite, you’re always concerned that all your hard work will be for nothing if the launch fails. So I’m very happy and relieved that the launch was a success.
“Nevertheless, we still have around 4 months of the commissioning phase to work through, which is when our activities will prove their worth. Our real celebrations will start when that is complete and the satellite is working well! And then we will look forward to working on the next member of the family, Sentinel-1D, which is due for launch next year (2025).”
After the commissioning phase, the mission planning team will remain involved in operations of the new satellite in conjunction with Sentinel-1A.
Another Starion expert involved in the Sentinel-1C mission is Berta Hoyos Ortega, who is a Work Package Manager for Post Launch Support in the Starion Service for Earth Observation (EO) Missions Satellite Engineering. Based at ESA’s European Space Research and Technology Centre (ESTEC) in the Netherlands, she coordinates and supports activities related to the resolution of anomalies and updates for satellites already in orbit.
An important part of Berta’s role is coordinating the required support for anomaly resolution and engineering support activities for operating EO satellites from ESA specialists and industry. She has worked on a large number of EO missions, in both the Earth Explorers and Copernicus programmes. She will now support the LEOP and the commissioning activities for Sentinel-1C.
“Preparing, launching, commissioning and operating a satellite is a massive team effort. Now that the first two stages have been successfully completed, we are looking forward to working through the LEOP and commissioning phases, and ensuring Sentinel-1C is fully operational alongside its partner Sentinel-1A. The efforts of skilled individuals like Mario and Berta are essential to making this happen.”
Ana García, ESA Sentinel-1 Spacecraft and Engineering Manager
About Sentinel-1C and the Sentinel-1 mission
The Sentinel-1 satellites each carry a synthetic aperture radar (SAR) payload that enables them to provide imagery day and night, whatever the weather, unlike standard radar which requires a clear line of sight. Sentinel-1C also carries an Automatic Identification System (AIS) signal antenna and is compatible with Galileo. When Sentinel-1C is in its final position, the two satellites will fly in the same orbit but 180° apart to optimise global coverage and data delivery.
Among the Sentinel-1 use cases highlighted by ESA are:
- Monitoring land changes, for example for agriculture, urban planning and forest management
- Tracking land subsidence and structural damage
- Tracking marine vessels to identify unlawful operations such as illegal fishing
- Monitoring oceans, including supporting navigation and tracking paths of oil slicks and harmful algal blooms
- Support for emergency support and disaster management.
Find out more about Sentinel-1C use cases on the Copernicus website.
Main image credit: ESA–M. Pédoussaut
