The European Space Agency (ESA) is Europe’s gateway to space. Its mission is to shape the development of Europe’s space capability and ensure that investment in space continues to deliver benefits to the citizens of Europe and the world.
Find out more about space activities in our 23 Member States, and understand how ESA works together with their national agencies, institutions and organisations.
Exploring our Solar System and unlocking the secrets of the Universe
Go to topicProtecting life and infrastructure on Earth and in orbit
Go to topicUsing space to benefit citizens and meet future challenges on Earth
Go to topicMaking space accessible and developing the technologies for the future
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Sentinel-1 is the first in a family of satellites built specifically to provide a stream of timely data for Europe’s ambitious Copernicus environmental monitoring programme. It carries an advanced radar to image Earth’s surface through cloud and rain and regardless of whether it is day or night. During launch, this 12 m-long radar and the solar wings are folded, but once the satellite is released into orbit they deploy in a careful sequence.
Delivering vital information for numerous operational services, from monitoring ice in the polar oceans to tracking land subsidence, Sentinel-1 is set to play a key role in the largest civil Earth-observation programme ever conceived.