ESA & Thales Alenia Space complete contract for GMES Sentinel-1

ESA Director General Jean-Jacques Dordain met with Pascale Sourisse, President and CEO of Thales Alenia Space, during the Paris Air Show (June 18th ‘ 24th) to sign a contract for the Sentinel-1 spacecraft. The 229 million euro contract calls for the design and development of Sentinel-1, the first of five Earth observation satellites to be built for Europe’s Global Monitoring for Environment and Security (GMES) program. The five satellites will make up the first series of operational satellites responding to the Earth observation needs of the GMES program, a joint initiative of the European Commission and ESA. Sentinel-1, scheduled for launch in 2011 will ensure the continuity of C-band Synthetic Aperture Radar data together with ESA’s ERS and Envisat satellites. The Sentinel-2 and 3 spacecraft, currently set for launch in 2012, will support land and ocean monitoring, while the Sentinel-4 and 5 satellites will be dedicated to meteorology and climatology through atmospheric chemistry.

Author: EARSC