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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In preparation for liftoff on 4 September 2024 (3 September Kourou time), the team at Europe’s Spaceport has taken the Vega fairing holding the Copernicus Sentinel-2C satellite to the launch pad. The photograph shows the satellite being attached to the transport gear that is used to roll the upper-composite from the cleanroom to the launch pad.
The Sentinel-2 mission is based on a constellation of two identical satellites, Sentinel-2A (launched in 2015) and Sentinel-2B (launched in 2017), flying in the same orbit but 180° apart to optimise coverage and revisit time.
Each satellite carries a high-resolution multispectral imager to deliver optical images from the visible to the shortwave-infrared region of the electromagnetic spectrum. From the altitude of 786 km, the satellites provide images in 13 spectral bands with resolutions of 10, 20 and 60 m over a large swath width of 290 km.
Data collected from Sentinel-2 are used for a wide range of applications, including precision farming, water quality monitoring, natural disaster management and methane emission detection.
Once in orbit, Sentinel-2C will replace its predecessor, Sentinel-2A, while Sentinel-2D will later replace Sentinel-2B.