Soyuz VS07 with the ESA’s Sentinel-1A satellite lifted off from Europe’s Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana, on 3 April 2014.

Sentinel-1A – the first satellite built for the Copernicus environmental monitoring programme – will be used to monitor many aspects of our environment, from detecting and tracking oil spills and mapping sea ice to monitoring movement in land surfaces and mapping changes in the way land is used. It will also play a crucial role in providing timely information to help respond to natural disasters and assist humanitarian relief efforts.