Thales Alenia Space secures major contract from ESA

Thales Alenia Space, a joint venture between Thales (67%) and Leonardo (33%), has announced the signing of a contract with the European Space Agency (ESA) for the development of two new-generation Sentinel-1 satellites. The contract signed today represents the first tranche of an agreement worth a total of €700 million. Sentinel-1 NG is part of Copernicus, the Earth Observation component of the European Union’s Space Programme, managed by the European Commission and co-funded by the EU and the European Space Agency. ESA is responsible for the development and launch of the dedicated Sentinel satellites, as well as managing most of the missions and ensuring data availability. The Italian Space Agency (ASI) also supports this mission.

The objective

Sentinel-1 NG will provide observation data for environmental protection, climate monitoring, natural disaster assessment and many other applications of social interest. The satellites will meet the requirements set out by the Copernicus services for Climate Change, Land and Marine Monitoring, and by those responsible for Emergency Management and Security.

The mission’s many planned applications include maritime surveillance, and the monitoring of the oceans, ice and land, particularly with regard to soil moisture, vegetation cover, forest types, and crop types and conditions. The satellites will provide monitoring day and night, regardless of weather conditions.

The new instruments on board the satellite improve image resolution by up to four times compared to the first generation, enabling a wider area to be observed. Improvements over the first generation include the implementation of Quad-polarisation mode, which is essential for modern Earth observation applications, and a specific mode for observing sea ice.