SENTINEL-3B launched to increase oceans monitoring coverage, SITAEL technology on board
SITAEL has provided its key technology for the SRAL (Synthetic aperture Radar and ALtimeter) instrument embarked on the Sentinel-3 satellites to measure sea and land surface topography and temperature.
April 25, 2018 – The Earth observation satellite Sentinel 3B has been launched from Plesetsk Cosmodrome, Russia, at 17:57 GMT (19:57 CEST), by a Rockot vehicle.
Under the Copernicus Programme, an initiative headed by the European Commission (EC) in partnership with the European Space Agency (ESA), the Sentinel-3 mission includes the production of a series of satellites (called Sentinel), developed to provide a specific contribution in the field of the Earth Observations.
Started in 2016, with the successful launch of the first satellite, Sentinel 3A, the Sentinel-3 programme is dedicated to operational oceanography and global land application, thanks to several instruments operating in a wide spectral window, from optical to microwaves.
SITAEL, in collaboration with Thales Alenia Space France, developed for the four Sentinel 3 satellites (A,B,C & D) a complex device being the core of the SRAL instrument. The next two satellites (Sentinel 3C&D) are expected to be launched from 2021 onwards.
