Training up
Since 2015, the Sentinel-2 team at ESA’s mission control in Darmstadt, Germany, have been flying the Sentinel-2A satellite, an Earth observation mission developed by ESA as part of Europe’s ambitious Copernicus programme.
Each Sentinel-2 satellite carries a camera providing a new perspective of our land and vegetation. The combination of high resolution, novel spectral capabilities, a swath width of 290 km and frequent revisits are providing unprecedented views of Earth.
Once the second craft is in space, the mission’s ‘space segment’ will have a pair of identical satellites in the same orbit, 180° apart for optimal coverage.
Together they will cover all of Earth’s land surfaces, large islands, inland and coastal waters every five days at the equator.
On 7 March, the team will assume control of the 2B satellite shortly after it is lofted into space by a Vega rocket from Kourou, French Guiana. Before then, 16 intensive simulation sessions will help to ensure that the entire mission control team are ready for space.
In this photo of 11 January 2017 in the Main Control Room, Spacecraft Operations Engineer Pol Sintes is seen sitting in the foreground. In the background are Spacecraft Operations Engineer Salvatore Nocella and Spacecraft Operations Manager Franco Marchese.
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