Sentinel-1A

Spacecraft nº:

ESA spacecraft nº: 86

Launch data: Designation  39634 / 14016A Launch date  03 April 2014 - 21:02 UT Launch site  CSG, ELS Launch vehicle  Soyuz-STA / Fregat-M (Soyuz-2-1A?) Mission  Earth Observing (Radar) Earth orbit: Perigee / Apogee  702 x 704 km Eccentricity   Inclination  98.2 ° Period  98.7 min

Spacecraft data:

Description:

• The mission is the first of six families of dedicated missions that will make up the core of Europe's Copernicus environmental monitoring network. Copernicus will provide operational information on the world's land surfaces, oceans and atmosphere to support environmental and security policymaking and the needs of individual citizens and service providers. Designed as a two-satellite constellation - Sentinel-1A and -1B - the C-band radar mission will provide all-weather day-and-night imagery of land and ocean surfaces of Europe, Canada and the polar regions in near-real time. Equipped with a powerful 'synthetic aperture radar,' it will ensure continuity with the European Envisat satellite, which stopped working in 2012 after 10 years of service. The technology is based on a long heritage of radar satellites, starting with ERS-1 23 years ago. In addition to transmitting data to a number of ground stations around the world for rapid dissemination, Sentinel-1 is also equipped with a laser terminal to transmit data via European Data Relay System satellites in geostationary orbit for continual data delivery.
• The Sentinel-1 satellite, is part of the GMES program - Global Monitoring for Environment and Security - a set of Earth observation missions co-funded by ESA and the European Commission. GMES represents the European answer to the ever-increasing requirements of environmental control, and thus provides an important contribution to environmental policies at a global level.
• As prime contractor, Thales Alenia Space Italy is responsible for the design, development and integration of the satellite that will carry a C-band Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR). The radar will be based on Thales Alenia Space's key technologies such as the Transmit-Receive modules inside the active antenna.
• The ESA Sentinel suite is composed of five satellites series. Sentinel-1 will ensure the continuity with ERS and Envisat C-band SAR data. Sentinel-2 and Sentinel-3 satellites are scheduled for launch in 2014-15 and will support land and ocean monitoring. Sentinel-4 and 5 will be dedicated to meteorology and climatology through atmospheric chemistry study.

Mission details:

• The first satellite in the European Commission's Sentinel/Copernicus Earth observing program is launched on April 03,2014. ESA will operate the Sentinel-1A C-band radar satellite.
• The Soyuz-2-1A (ST-A) flew to a -3147 x 668 km x 91.1 deg orbit and fell in the Canadian Arctic at around 2127 UTC. The Fregat upper stage, which separated near the Soyuz apogee, completed its first burn at 2122 UTC to deliver Sentinel to a 684 x 689 km x 98.2 deg orbit. Sentinel separated from Fregat at 2126 UTC; the Fregat ignited again at 2203 UTC and entered a -250 x 708 km x 102.8 deg orbit which dumped it in the South Atlantic around 2236 UTC.
• Sentinel-1A's C-band SAR is 13.3 x 0.8m in size. The satellite has a mass of 2157 kg, only a quarter the mass of its predecessor Envisat which carried a wider array of instruments; in the Sentinel program there will be a series of smaller, more specialized satellites.
• At 0514 UTC on Apr 5, 2014 Sentinel made a maneuver to avoid a very close pass by NASA's defunct ACRIMSAT satellite, which failed on Dec 14 after suffering battery issues, ending its 14 year record of measuring the solar output. The Space Debris Office at ESOC, the European Space Operations Center in Darmstadt noticed the possible close approach after recieving the first post-launch orbital data for the satellite and, after exchanges with NASA and the USAF JSpOC space operations center, worked the plan for an avoidance burn with the ESOC flight dynamics group. Debris avoidance burns are moderately normal, but doing one during spacecraft checkout in the first days after launch is not, and required a major replanning effort as described in the ESA blog.

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