Contract Signed for
Building of GMES Sentinel-1 Satellite
(18 June 2007) ESA and Thales Alenia Space have signed a Euro 229 million contract for the design and development of Sentinel-1, the first Earth observation satellite to be built for Europe's Global Monitoring for Environment and Security (GMES) programme.
Signature of procurement contract for Sentinel-1 with Thales Alenia Space, at ESA pavilion, the Paris Air Show, Le Bourget, 18th June 2007 . From left to right : Mr. Volker Liebig, ESA Director of Earth Observation, Mr. Jean-Jacques Dordain, ESA Director General and Mrs Pascale Sourisse, President & CEO Thales Alenia Space. (courtesy: ESA - S.Corvaja)
ESA's Director General, Jean-Jacques
Dordain, and President and CEO of Thales Alenia Space, Pascale Sourisse, signed
the contract on behalf of the Italian branch of the company Monday at the
International Paris Air Show Le Bourget.
Speaking at the signing
ceremony, ESA's Director of Earth Observation Programmes Mr Volker Liebig said:
"Environmental monitoring, sustainable development and resource management
clearly benefit from Earth Observation (EO) as an information source. Europe
has a leading role in monitoring the environment, thanks to national and ESA
satellites, among which Envisat is the biggest and most sophisticated
environmental satellite of the world and has been operational for five
years.
Signature of procurement contract for Sentinel-1 with Thales Alenia Space, at ESA pavilion, the Paris Air Show, Le Bourget, 18th June 2007. (courtesy: ESA - S.Corvaja)
"GMES is the next logical step in the
development of operational services under the European Commission to provide
Europe with the environmental data to support political decisions as a global
player, with particular emphasis on the issue of climate change. With today's
signature, we are another step closer towards the realisation of the GMES
Programme."
"We are particularly proud of having won this contract, as
it leverages our long and recognised experience in successful Earth observation
missions dedicated to oceanography, climatology and meteorology," Sourisse
said.
The ESA Sentinels, composed of five satellites, constitute the
first series of operational satellites responding to the EO needs of the GMES
programme, a joint initiative of the European Commission and
ESA.
Sentinel mission requirements focus on the continuity of existing
services exploiting EO data and satisfying user requirements derived from GMES
applications.
Sentinel-1 is expected to be launched in 2011 and will
ensure the continuity of C-band Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) data with ESA's
ERS and Envisat satellites. Important applications driving the mission concept
include marine - vessel detection, oil spill mapping and wind products - and
sea ice mapping.
Sentinel-1 artist's impression (courtesy: ESA - P. Carril)
The Sentinel-1 spacecraft is expected to
weigh around 2200 kg at launch and image the Earth in swaths of 250 kilometres
in diameter with a ground resolution of five metres.
Sentinel-2 and 3
satellites, scheduled for launch in 2012, will support land and ocean
monitoring, while Sentinel-4 and 5 will be dedicated to meteorology and
climatology through atmospheric chemistry.
GMES is the response to
Europe's need for geo-spatial information services. It provides autonomous and
independent access to information for policy-makers, particularly in relation
to environment and security.
(source: ESA)