Sentinel-2A will soon be launched from Europe's Spaceport in French Guiana on top of a Vega launcher, making it the second satellite in orbit for Europe's Copernicus programme. <br /> <br />The Sentinel-2 mission carries an optical payload with visible, near infrared and shortwave infrared sensors with a swath width of 290 km. The polar-orbiting, multispectral high-resolution imaging mission for land monitoring will provide, for example, imagery of vegetation, soil and water cover, inland waterways and coastal areas, as well as deliver information for emergency services. <br /> <br />Sentinel-2A – and its sister satellite Sentinel-2B to be launched next year – are part of the family of Sentinel missions that ESA is developing specifically for the operational needs of the environment-monitoring Copernicus programme, headed by the European Commission. Each mission is based on a constellation of two satellites to fulfill revisit and coverage requirements, providing robust datasets for Copernicus Services. <br /> <br />This video shows Sentinel-2A in preparation in Germany and in Kourou, and explains the challenges of this mission launched by the fifth Vega. It includes interviews with Reinhard Schulte-Braucks, Director of Copernicus Infrastructures at the European Commission, Bianca Hoersch, ESA's Sentinel-2 Mission Manager, and François Spoto, ESA's Sentinel-2 Project Manager.
