Sentinel 1A and Jason3 in Thales Alenia Space Cannes facility. Photo: ESA

[Via Satellite 04-02-2014] The European Space Agency (ESA) has announced that its Thales Alenia Space-built Sentinel 1A satellite is ready to be launched. This satellite is the first in the Copernicus program, Europe’s Earth observation program coordinated by the European Commission and ESA. The program is expected to give the region independence in the acquisition and management of environmental data to support Europe’s public policies.

As the prime contractor for Sentinel 1, Thales Alenia Space is responsible for the design, development, integration and testing of the satellite, which was built and tested in the company’s facilities in Rome and Cannes, and has completed its final verification testing. The goals of the Sentinel 1 mission are to map urban areas, observe environmental impact, monitor risks due to movements in the Earth’s surface, survey the marine environment and monitor forest and climate change. The second satellite, Sentinel 1B, is scheduled for delivery to ESA during the last quarter of 2015.