The Sentinel-2A GO/NOGO roll call in the Main Control Room at ESOC, ESA's European Space Operations Centre, Darmstadt, Germany. The roll call was conducted by Flight Director Pier Paolo Emanuelli approximately 1 hour before lift off at 01:52:03.980 UTC (03:52:03.980 CEST), 23 June 2015.
The 1.1 tonne satellite was carried into space on a Vega rocket from Europe’s Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana; the first stage separated 1 min 52 sec after liftoff, followed by the second stage and fairing at 3 min 37 sec and 3 min 54 sec, respectively, and the third stage at 6 min 32 sec. Vega’s upper stage delivered Sentinel-2A into the targeted Sun-synchronous orbit. The satellite separated from the stage 54 min 43 sec into the flight.
Six families of Sentinel satellites will make up the core of EU’s Copernicus environmental monitoring network. An EU flagship space initiative, Copernicus will provide operational information on the world’s land surfaces, oceans and atmosphere to support environmental and security policymaking, and meet the needs of citizens and service providers.
More information: http://www.esa.int/sentinel2
Audio credit: ESA - CC BY-SA IGO 3.0
Image credit: ESA/J. Mai
