One in all Europe’s freshest rocket traces has a giant Earth contract lined up.
Arianespace’s Vega C rocket, which has a single launch underneath its belt from earlier this yr, will probably be tasked to launch 5 Earth commentary missions on behalf of the European Union (EU), the corporate introduced Tuesday (Nov. 29).
The launches are in help of the large Copernicus set of European satellites that peer at situations of climate change, land use, excessive climate and different essential facets of Earth commentary.
“These launches will be sure that … the Copernicus constellation is replenished and new commentary capacities are put into orbit,” Timo Pesonen, director-general of the EU’s directorate normal for defence, trade and space, mentioned in a statement (opens in new tab). The worth of the contract was not disclosed.
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The 115-foot-tall (35 meters) Vega C launched seven satellites to space throughout its debut flight in July. Developed by the European Area Company, the rocket can ship 2.3 tons to polar orbit, in comparison with 1.5 tons for an earlier Vega model.
The launches are slated to fly between 2024 and 2026 from Europe’s spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana. These 5 newly introduced missions pushed the backlog of Vega-C launches to 13, Arianespace officers said.
In Arianespace’s phrases, the 5 scheduled launches embody:
- Sentinel-1D, which will probably be geared up with a Artificial Aperture Radar (SAR) to offer all-weather ocean and land high-resolution multi-purpose observations. The launch is scheduled from the second half of 2024.
- Sentinel-2C, which will present high-resolution optical imagery for land providers. The launch is scheduled for mid-2024.
- Sentinel- 3C, which will present high-accuracy optical, radar and altimetry knowledge for marine and land providers. The launch is scheduled for 2024 or 2025.
- Sentinel CO2M-A and CO2M-B, which will every carry a near-infrared and shortwave-infrared spectrometer to measure atmospheric carbon dioxide produced by human exercise. The satellite launches are scheduled for 2025 or 2026.
Elizabeth Howell is the co-author of “Why Am I Taller (opens in new tab)?” (ECW Press, 2022; with Canadian astronaut Dave Williams), a e book about space drugs. Comply with her on Twitter @howellspace (opens in new tab). Comply with us on Twitter @Spacedotcom (opens in new tab) or Facebook (opens in new tab).
