Toulouse, 05 September 2024 – The third Copernicus Sentinel-2 satellite has been successfully launched on a Vega rocket from Kourou, French Guiana. The Airbus-built Sentinel-2C satellite will enter service in low Earth orbit at 780 km following initial testing and commissioning. Then, it will replace Sentinel-2A, which will retire and operate in tandem with Sentinel-2B. 

Marc Steckling, Head of Earth Observation, Science and Exploration at Airbus, said: “This launch gives the world another important sensor to monitor our changing planet and provides crucial continuity since the first Sentinel-2 satellite launch in 2015. Equipped with a high-resolution multispectral imager the satellite will collect vital imagery for a myriad of applications from agriculture to water quality monitoring.”

The Sentinel-2-mission is based on a constellation of two identical satellites, flying in the same orbit but 180° apart for optimal coverage and revisit time. The satellites orbit the Earth every 100 minutes covering all Earth’s land surfaces, large islands, inland and coastal waters every five days.

Offering “colour vision” for the Copernicus programme, Sentinel-2C – like its precursor satellites Sentinel-2A and -2B – will deliver optical images from the visible to short-wave infrared range of the electromagnetic spectrum. The 1.1 ton satellite will enable continuation of imaging in 13 spectral bands with a resolution (per pixel) of 10, 20 or 60 metres and a uniquely large swath width of 290 km.