Sentinel-2B is a European optical imaging satellite that was launched on 7 March 2017. It is the second

Sentinel-2 Sentinel-2 is an Earth observation mission from the Copernicus Programme that systematically acquires optical imagery at high spatial resolution (10 m to 60 m) over land and coastal waters. The mission is currently a constellation with two satel ...

satellite launched as part of the

European Space Agency , owners = , headquarters = Paris, Île-de-France, France , coordinates = , spaceport = Guiana Space Centre , seal = File:ESA emblem seal.png , seal_size = 130px , image = Views in the Main Control Room (120 ...

Copernicus Programme Copernicus is the European Union's Earth observation programme coordinated and managed for the European Commission by the European Union Agency for the Space Programme in partnership with the European Space Agency (ESA), the EU Member States. ...

, and its orbit will be phased 180° against Sentinel-2A. The satellite carries a wide swath high-resolution multispectral imager with 13

spectral bands Spectral bands are parts of the electromagnetic spectrum of specific wavelengths, which can be filtered by a standard filter. In nuclear physics, spectral bands are referred to the emission of polyatomic systems, including condensed materials, larg ...

. It will provide information for

agriculture Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled people ...

and

forestry Forestry is the science and craft of creating, managing, planting, using, conserving and repairing forests, woodlands, and associated resources for human and environmental benefits. Forestry is practiced in plantations and natural stands. ...

, among others allowing for prediction of

crop yield In agriculture, the yield is a measurement of the amount of a crop grown, or product such as wool, meat or milk produced, per unit area of land. The seed ratio is another way of calculating yields. Innovations, such as the use of fertilizer, the c ...

Mission history

A €105 million contract for the construction of the spacecraft was signed in March 2010 by ESA's Director of Earth Observation Programmes and the CEO of Astrium Satellites. It was completed in June 2016, and the satellite was transported to the

European Space Research and Technology Centre The European Space Research and Technology Centre (ESTEC) is the European Space Agency's main technology development and test centre for spacecraft and space technology. It is situated in Noordwijk, South Holland, in the western Netherlands, al ...

(ESTEC) for the test campaign.

Launch

The spacecraft arrived at the

Centre Spatial Guyanais The Guiana Space Centre (french: links=no, Centre spatial guyanais; CSG), also called Europe's Spaceport, is a European spaceport to the northwest of Kourou in French Guiana, a region of France in South America. Kourou is located approximat ...

on 6 January 2017 for pre-launch operations. Launch took place at the nominal time of 01:49:24 UTC on 7 March 2017 on board Vega flight VV09. The spacecraft was injected into its target orbit at 02:47:21 UTC.

References

External links

Sentinel-2 programme
at ESA's Sentinel Online
Sentinel-2 programme
at ESA.int
Real-time orbital tracking

uphere.space
{{Orbital launches in 2017 Copernicus Programme Earth observation satellites of the European Space Agency Spacecraft launched by Vega rockets Spacecraft launched in 2017 Twin satellites