A Soyuz rocket has launched from French Guiana with
the first satellite in the European Union's new multi-billion-euro
Earth-observation program.
The Sentinel-1a spacecraft has been put in orbit on
a mission to map the planet's surface using radar.
It will be followed by a fleet of other satellites -
also called Sentinels - over the next five years.
Brussels is describing its Copernicus programme as the biggest
ever effort to characterize our world.
When the full satellite system is operational, it
will be producing daily some eight terabytes of data to detail the state of
Earth's land surface, its oceans and its atmosphere.
European nations have so far committed 7.5bn euros
(£6.2bn; $10.3bn) to the project. But the vision for Copernicus is that it is
unending - that every Sentinel satellite is replaced at the demise of its
mission, ensuring there is continuity of information deep into this century.
"Once all the Sentinel satellites have been
launched, the Copernicus program will be the most efficient and fullest
Earth-observation program in the world," said European Commission
President Jose Manuel Barroso.
"This investment will allow Europe to establish
itself at the forefront of research and innovation in a cutting-edge sector -
namely, space. Many skilled jobs have been created and many more are yet to
come."
The Soyuz carrying the first radar observer lifted
clear of the Sinnamary launch pad on the Guianese coast at 18:02 local time
(21:02 GMT; 22:02 BST).
The ride to an altitude of 699km took 23 minutes. A
signal confirming a clean separation for Sentinel-1a from the rocket was
received shortly afterwards.
Controllers at the European Space Agency's (Esa)
operations center in Darmstadt, Germany, must now commission the spacecraft.
The first hours will be spent sending commands to
the satellite to get it to unpack its solar wings and the panels of its radar
instrument.
These were all folded to fit inside the Soyuz. The
task should be complete by early morning on Friday, European time.
Formal entry into service is expected in about three
months' time, although it is likely that the platform will start imaging the
Earth as early as next week to begin the process of instrument calibration.
Radar has myriad uses, from monitoring shipping lanes
for pollution or icebergs, to mapping land surfaces to track deforestation or
the performance of rice production.
However, a key use for Sentinel-1a will be in
disaster response. Read more:
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