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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Spacecraft operations engineer Carmen Ricote Navarro working in the Main Control Room during the launch of Sentinel-2B.
The 1100 kg satellite was carried into orbit on a Vega rocket from Europe’s Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana at 01:49 GMT (02:49 CET) on 7 March 2017.
About an hour later, telemetry links and attitude control were established by controllers at ESA’s operations centre in Darmstadt, Germany, allowing activation of Sentinel’s systems to begin.
The mission control team has been working in shifts around the clock since launch through today to shepherd the satellite through the critical ‘early orbit’' phase.
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