Europe launches sixth Sentinel Earth observation satellite
Europe launched the sixth of its Sentinel Earth observation satellites on Friday as part of the multibillion-euro Copernicus programme to monitor volcanic ash and ultraviolet radiation.
The Sentinel-5P satellite, part of a system of satellites that is to monitor Earth, blasted off on board a Rockot launcher from the Plesetsk cosmodrome in Russia's north-western Arkhangelsk region at 0927 GMT.
From its orbit 824 kilometres (512 miles) above Earth, it will monitor the planet's atmosphere for occurrences such as volcanic ash that could put airplanes at risk or high levels of ultraviolet radiation that could cause skin damage.
In addition, scientists will use Sentinel-5P's data to understand better how holes form in Earth's ozone layer.
The Copernicus project is described by the European Space Agency (ESA) as the most ambitious Earth observation programme to date. The European Union and the ESA have committed funding of more than €8-billion ($9.5-billion) to it until 2020.
The launch of the Copernicus project became especially urgent after Europe lost contact with its Earth observation satellite Envisat in 2012 after ten years.
Sentinel-5P, also known as Sentinel-5 Precursor, was designed to reduce data gaps between Envisat and NASA's Aura mission and the launch of Sentinel 5.
The first satellite of Europe's planned Sentinel network launched in April 2014, among others to provide speedy images of land, oceans and waterways.
Comments
The
content
you are trying to access is only available to subscribers.
If you are already a subscriber, you can Login Here.
If you are not a subscriber, you can subscribe now, by selecting one of the below options.
For more information or assistance, please contact us at subscriptions@creamermedia.co.za.
Option 1 (equivalent of R125 a month):
Receive a weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine
(print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
Receive daily email newsletters
Access to full search results
Access archive of magazine back copies
Access to Projects in Progress
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format
Option 2 (equivalent of R375 a month):
All benefits from Option 1
PLUS
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports, in PDF format, on various industrial and mining sectors
including Electricity; Water; Energy Transition; Hydrogen; Roads, Rail and Ports; Coal; Gold; Platinum; Battery Metals; etc.
Already a subscriber?
Forgotten your password?
Receive weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine (print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
➕
Recieve daily email newsletters
➕
Access to full search results
➕
Access archive of magazine back copies
➕
Access to Projects in Progress
➕
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format
RESEARCH CHANNEL AFRICA
R4500 (equivalent of R375 a month)
SUBSCRIBEAll benefits from Option 1
➕
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports on various industrial and mining sectors, in PDF format, including on:
Electricity
➕
Water
➕
Energy Transition
➕
Hydrogen
➕
Roads, Rail and Ports
➕
Coal
➕
Gold
➕
Platinum
➕
Battery Metals
➕
etc.
Receive all benefits from Option 1 or Option 2 delivered to numerous people at your company
➕
Multiple User names and Passwords for simultaneous log-ins
➕
Intranet integration access to all in your organisation