Overview
- The satellite launched on November 4 at 22:02 CET aboard Ariane 6 from Kourou, reached orbit about 34 minutes later, and made first contact via the Troll ground station at 23:22 CET.
- Mission teams have started in-orbit commissioning and calibration with DLR’s SAR Calibration Center supporting tuning and verification of the radar for high-precision imaging and interferometry.
- Once operational, Sentinel-1D will fly with Sentinel-1C on a six-day revisit cycle before replacing Sentinel-1A after an overlap phase.
- The C-band radar provides all-weather, day-night imaging for applications including flood mapping, oil-spill detection, ground-motion monitoring, landslide and volcano risk assessment, and maritime surveillance.
- The spacecraft carries SAR and an AIS receiver for enhanced ship detection and identification, and its data will be released globally under Copernicus’ open-access policy after commissioning.