Preparations for launch of Sentinel-1B

Preparation of the Soyuz VS14 for launch at Europe's Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana. From encapsulation of the payload to integration with the lower stages of the launcher and rollout to the launch pad. Launching on 22 April 2016, the Soyuz will carry the Sentinel-1B satellite, MicroSCOPE and three CubeSats into orbit. Once in orbit, Sentinel-1B will provide radar images of Earth for Europe’s Copernicus environmental monitoring programme.

With the Sentinel-1 mission designed as a two-satellite constellation, Sentinel-1B will join its identical twin, Sentinel-1A, which was launched two years ago.