Sentinel-2A
European optical imaging satellite
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Sentinel-2A is a European optical imaging satellite launched in 2015. It is the first Sentinel-2 satellite launched by the European Space Agency's and this Sentinel is part of the European Commission's Copernicus Programme. The satellite carries a wide swath high-resolution multispectral imager with 13 spectral bands. Its observations support services such as forest monitoring, land cover change-detection, natural disaster management and water quality monitoring.[4] On 7 March 2017 the Sentinel-2A was joined in orbit by its sister satellite, Sentinel-2B.
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Model of a Sentinel 2 satellite | |
| Mission type | Earth observation |
|---|---|
| Operator | ESA |
| COSPAR ID | 2015-028A |
| SATCAT no. | 40697 |
| Website | Sentinel-2 (ESA) |
| Mission duration | Planned: 7 years[1] Elapsed: 10 years, 8 months, 17 days |
| Spacecraft properties | |
| Spacecraft type | Sentinel-2 |
| Manufacturer | Airbus Defence and Space |
| Launch mass | 1,140 kg (2,510 lb) |
| Dry mass | 1,017 kg (2,242 lb) |
| Dimensions | 3.4 m × 1.8 m × 2.35 m (11.2 ft × 5.9 ft × 7.7 ft) |
| Power | 1700 watts |
| Start of mission | |
| Launch date | 23 June 2015, 01:51:58 UTC[2] |
| Rocket | Vega (VV05) |
| Launch site | Kourou SLV |
| Contractor | Arianespace |
| Orbital parameters | |
| Reference system | Geocentric |
| Regime | Low Earth |
| Semi-major axis | 7,167.10 km (4,453.43 mi) |
| Eccentricity | 0.000127 |
| Perigee altitude | 788.06 km (489.68 mi) |
| Apogee altitude | 789.87 km (490.80 mi) |
| Inclination | 98.5623° |
| Period | 100.65 minutes |
| Epoch | 9 March 2017, 21:05:23 UTC[3] |
| Transponders | |
| Band | S band (TT&C support) X band and optical laser through EDRS (data acquisition) |
| Bandwidth | 64 kbit/s upload (S band) 128 kbit/s - 2 Mbit/s down (S band) 520 Mbit/s down (X band/Optical) |
| Instruments | |
| Multi-Spectral Imager (MSI) | |
Mission history
Launch
Sentinel-2A was launched by the Vega VV05 rocket on 23 June 2015 at 01:52 UTC. The satellite separated from the upper stage 54 min 43 s after liftoff.[5]
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Orbital operation
The satellite captured its first image 100 hours after launch, covering a 290 km (180 mi) wide swath from Sweden through Central Europe to Algeria.[6][7]: 8 Commissioning occurred in October 2015.[7]: 8
Between 20 and 23 January 2017 the spacecraft suffered a mission planning anomaly which resulted in loss of data from its instrument, the Multi-Spectral Imager.[8]
Sentinel 2A's descending orbital path
In December 2025, Sentinel-2A performed experimental night observations, something it was not designed to do, in order to test these operations for the follow-on Sentinel-2 Next Generation mission. The satellite successfully captured night-time images of gas flares from oil production in the Middle East, wildfires in India, and fishing boats off the coast of South Korea.[9][10]
