Rome 13 February 2014
Built and integrated at the Satellite Integration Center of Thales Alenia Space in Rome, the European satellite Sentinel 1 A is about to end the verification tests in clean rooms in Cannes. Close to its launch, planned for the end of March, the satellite will be shipped to the launch base in Kourou, French Guiana on February 21st.
Sentinel 1 A is part of Copernicus, the complex program of earth observation launched by the European Commission and the European Space Agency (ESA), which has as its main objective to provide Europe with a substantial independence in the detection and management of data on the state of health of the planet, supporting the needs of European public policy through the provision of accurate and reliable environmental aspects and safety.
Thales Alenia Space plays a role of great significance in this program: the company in fact is responsible, as prime contractor, for the design, development, integration and testing of the constellations for the Sentinel 1 and Sentinel 3 missions. Italy has a primary role in the Copernicus program, thanks to the Italian Space Agency who has signed and secured a significant commitment of our country in the field of Earth observation .