SENTINEL-3A: monitoring the oceans from Space

Sentinel-3s mission covers oceanography, continental hydrology and monitoring of vegetation on land. Comprising 4 satellites (Sentinel-3A, -3B, -3C, -3D), Sentinel-3's mission is part of the European program Copernicus. Sentinel-3A will be orbited on February 2016 by a Rockot launcher in Russia, while Sentinel-3B is scheduled for launch in 2017 by Arianespace using the Vega light launcher from the Guiana Space Center in French Guiana. The contract for Sentinel-3C and 3D, to be launched as from 2021, was recently awarded to Thales Alenia Space by ESA, and is worth 450 million euros.

© Thales Alenia Space/Master Image Programmes