Up close and loud: Vega-C liftoff with Sentinel-1C

The Vega-C launch, flight VV25, seen from a camera placed at just 5 m from the launchpad, and a second shot from the top of the mobile gantry that housed the rocket – 44 m high and around 50 m from the launch pad. 

The third Copernicus Sentinel-1 satellite, Sentinel-1C, launched aboard a Vega-C rocket, flight VV25, from Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana. The rocket lifted off on 5 December 2024 at 22:20 CET (18:20 local time). 

Sentinel-1C extends the legacy of its predecessors, delivering high-resolution radar imagery to monitor Earth’s changing environment, supporting a diverse range of applications and advance scientific research. Additionally, Sentinel-1C introduces new capabilities for detecting and monitoring maritime traffic. 

The launch also marks Vega-C’s ‘return to flight’, a key step in restoring Europe’s independent access to space. Vega-C is the evolution of the Vega family of rockets and delivers increased performance, greater payload volume and improved competitiveness.