Testing the deployment of the Sentinel-1A radar antenna (in fast motion) in the cleanroom at Thales Alenia Space in Cannes, France, on January 2014. As the satellite is designed to operate in orbit, it is hung from a structure during tests to simulate weightlessness. The Synthetic Aperture Radar, or SAR, will provide an all-weather day-and-night supply of imagery for services such as the monitoring of Arctic sea-ice extent, routine sea-ice mapping, surveillance of the marine environment, monitoring land-surface for motion risks and mapping to support humanitarian aid and crisis situations. Sentinel-1A – the first satellite built for the Copernicus environmental monitoring programme – is foreseen for launch this spring from Europe’s spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana.