CNES projects library
C
I
M
P
S
U
Bi
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
-
Gearing up for third Sentinel-2 satellite
With the first Copernicus Sentinel-2 satellite in orbit since 2015 and the second since 2017, engineers are busy preparing the mission’s follow-on pair to eventually pick up the...
August 9, 2021
-
Satellites reveal cause of Chamoli disaster
A new study using satellite evidence confirms that a rock and ice avalanche caused the Chamoli disaster in India earlier this year.
June 14, 2021
-
Monitoring coastal changes in Greece
Hundreds of satellite images spanning over 25 years have been compiled to show the evolution of Greece’s ever-changing coastlines.
May 18, 2021