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Second EU radar Sentinel satellite launches | Second EU radar Sentinel satellite launches |
(about 9 hours later) | |
The European Space Agency has launched a second radar satellite into the EU's new Sentinel constellation. | The European Space Agency has launched a second radar satellite into the EU's new Sentinel constellation. |
Sentinel-1b was carried into orbit by a Soyuz rocket that flew out of Sinamary in French Guiana. | Sentinel-1b was carried into orbit by a Soyuz rocket that flew out of Sinamary in French Guiana. |
The new platform will monitor shipping lanes for pollution and icebergs, and survey land surfaces for evidence of subsidence - to name just three of the myriad applications for radar imagery. | The new platform will monitor shipping lanes for pollution and icebergs, and survey land surfaces for evidence of subsidence - to name just three of the myriad applications for radar imagery. |
Sentinel-1b will work alongside the 1a spacecraft, which was launched in 2014. | Sentinel-1b will work alongside the 1a spacecraft, which was launched in 2014. |
Operating in the same orbit but separated by 180 degrees, the pair will be able to map the entire Earth every six days. | Operating in the same orbit but separated by 180 degrees, the pair will be able to map the entire Earth every six days. |
This promises an avalanche of data - some five terabits per day - and both satellites are carrying laser communications systems to help get all the information to the ground. | This promises an avalanche of data - some five terabits per day - and both satellites are carrying laser communications systems to help get all the information to the ground. |
The Sentinels are a flagship space project for the European Union, which has committed billions of euros to the endeavour. | The Sentinels are a flagship space project for the European Union, which has committed billions of euros to the endeavour. |
The satellites fit into a programme the European Commission calls Copernicus, which draws together all sorts of data about the health of the Earth, not just from orbit. | The satellites fit into a programme the European Commission calls Copernicus, which draws together all sorts of data about the health of the Earth, not just from orbit. |
Copernicus will support a multitude of services, ranging from air quality updates to crop-performance monitoring, from water-resource management to transport infrastructure planning. | Copernicus will support a multitude of services, ranging from air quality updates to crop-performance monitoring, from water-resource management to transport infrastructure planning. |
Esa is acting as the technical agent, procuring the satellites for the EU. Sentinel-1b is the fourth to launch, with more platforms to follow. | Esa is acting as the technical agent, procuring the satellites for the EU. Sentinel-1b is the fourth to launch, with more platforms to follow. |
"At the moment, we have around 36,000 self-registered users (for Sentinel data), who have downloaded already about four million images, mainly from Sentinel-1a; although this is now picking up because Sentinel-2a (a visible colour camera) has just become operational as well," explained Esa's Earth-observation director Prof Volker Liebig. | "At the moment, we have around 36,000 self-registered users (for Sentinel data), who have downloaded already about four million images, mainly from Sentinel-1a; although this is now picking up because Sentinel-2a (a visible colour camera) has just become operational as well," explained Esa's Earth-observation director Prof Volker Liebig. |
The Soyuz' lift-off from French Guiana occurred at 18:02 local time (21:02 GMT), following three postponements in previous days due to meteorological and technical issues. | The Soyuz' lift-off from French Guiana occurred at 18:02 local time (21:02 GMT), following three postponements in previous days due to meteorological and technical issues. |
The 2.1-tonne Sentinel was ejected 23 minutes into the ascent. The planned injection altitude was 686km (426 miles). | The 2.1-tonne Sentinel was ejected 23 minutes into the ascent. The planned injection altitude was 686km (426 miles). |
"We will not start commissioning until we have raised ourselves to the proper orbit (693km), which could take two weeks, a maximum of three," Esa's Sentinel-1 project manager, Ramon Torres told BBC News. | "We will not start commissioning until we have raised ourselves to the proper orbit (693km), which could take two weeks, a maximum of three," Esa's Sentinel-1 project manager, Ramon Torres told BBC News. |
"We will then go into detail with the calibration of the radar instrument. We plan the commissioning review (to declare Sentinel-1b operational) for 14 September." | "We will then go into detail with the calibration of the radar instrument. We plan the commissioning review (to declare Sentinel-1b operational) for 14 September." |
Four other satellites were put in orbit on the same Soyuz flight. | |
Three were university cubesats. One, however, was a French space agency mission called Microscope - a fundamental physics experiment. | |
This satellite will spend the next couple of years investigating the so-called "equivalence principle". | |
It is the concept in general relativity that holds that gravity accelerates all objects equally, regardless of their mass or composition. | |
The Apollo 15 astronaut Dave Scott famously demonstrated the principle on the Moon in 1971 when he dropped a geology hammer and a falcon feather. Both hit the surface of the airless body at the same time. | |
Microscope's examination will be much more exacting, of course. It will "drop" metal cylinders made from titanium-aluminium-vanadium and platinum-rhodium - to see if they also fall at the same rate in the vacuum of space. | |
The experiment can sense accelerations that are a millionth of a billionth of Earth's gravity. | |
Jonathan.Amos-INTERNET@bbc.co.uk and follow me on Twitter: @BBCAmos | Jonathan.Amos-INTERNET@bbc.co.uk and follow me on Twitter: @BBCAmos |