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Sentinel-2
The 1,140 kg European Sentinel-2A satellite lifted off from Kourou atop a Vega launcher on 23rd June 2015. Its twin Sentinel-2B joined it in the same 786-km orbit on 7 March 2017. Together, they will deliver images with a ground swath of 290 km and a resolution of 10 x 60 m every 5 days, ranging from visible to mid-infrared wavelengths.
This imagery serves a broad range of applications, monitoring crop and forest growth, land occupancy, farming practices and yields, or coasts, helping scientists to better understand the mechanisms and impacts of the climate system. It also aids humanitarian organizations and governments to respond to emergencies such as landslides, volcano eruptions, floods, and other natural disasters.
Drawing on the heritage of NASA’s Landsat and CNES’s SPOT programmes, the Sentinel-2 mission is part of the European Union’s Copernicus global environmental monitoring and security programme. The European Space Agency (ESA) has led the development of the 2 satellites, their instruments, and the ground segment. The spacecraft have been designed and built by a consortium of 60 firms headed by Airbus Defence & Space. Under a cooperation agreement, CNES developed the prototype for the data processing ground segment, defined and prototyped level 1 image processing procedures, and developed an image quality system and a level 2 (cloud detection and atmospheric corrections) image processing demonstrator. CNES makes Sentinel-2 data available for free on the Internet via its PEPS Sentinel Product Exploitation Platform, and delivers products corrected for atmospheric effects through the Theia land surfaces data hub.
Mission's news feed
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Transit of Venus in 2012 by PICARD
The 6.5-hour transit of Venus in front of the Sun took place during the night of 5 to 6 June 2012. The final part of this transit could be seen from Europe only on June 6th right...
June 6, 2012
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Picard returns 1st image of Sun
The CNES microsatellite has delivered a 1st image of the Sun. Teams on the ground will use this image to make final adjustments before the science mission begins.
July 28, 2010
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Picard and PRISMA in orbit
The 2 satellites reached orbit Tuesday 15 June atop their Dnepr launcher after lifting off from the Yasny space base in Russia.
June 15, 2010