Arianespace successfully launches Sentinel-1C Earth observation satellite for European Union's Copernicus program

• On December 5, 2024 (Kourou time), Vega C successfully placed on a Sun-synchronous orbit Sentinel-1C, a Copernicus satellite for the European Commission within the scope of a contract signed with the European Space Agency (ESA).
• This mission will provide crucial environmental data about our planet, while also carrying out Arianespace’s commitment of guaranteeing Europe’s independent access to space.
• Sentinel-1C is the 6th Copernicus Sentinel satellite successfully launched by Arianespace.
• This VV25 mission marks the successful return to flight of the Vega C launcher.

On Thursday December 5, 2024, the Vega C launcher (VV25 mission) lifted-off from the Guiana Space Center, French Guiana, at 6:20 pm local time (9:20 p.m. UTC, 10:20 p.m. CET). Vega C successfully placed the Copernicus Sentinel-1C satellite into Sun-synchronous orbit (SSO) at an altitude of 700 km. Spacecraft separation occurred 1 hour and 43 minutes after lift-off.

“Tonight, the Vega C rocket successfully placed the European Union’s Copernicus Sentinel-1C satellite into orbit. With the launch of Sentinel-1C, Arianespace has now delivered six Sentinel satellites for the emblematic Copernicus program dedicated to the environment, underscoring our commitment to utilizing space for the benefit of life on Earth, while supporting Europe’s ambitions in space”, commented Stéphane Israël, CEO of Arianespace. “I would like to express my gratitude to our customers, the European Commission and ESA, for their renewed trust in us, and congratulate the teams at Arianespace and our partners’ teams for the successful return to flight of Vega C. Following this success and that of the inaugural flight of Ariane 6, Arianespace is preparing for a high level of activity in 2025.”

ESA’s Director General Josef Aschbacher said: “One moment combined two great European achievements today: the third launch of a Sentinel-1 satellite and the third launch of Vega C, marking a triumphant return to form for both flagship European projects. It was exciting and touching to see the mix of the European launcher and Copernicus community and teams rooting each other on in true Team Europe form. With the insertion of Sentinel-1C into orbit, ESA continues a legacy of steadfast Sentinels protecting the Earth and exemplifies why Europe needs secured flights: because what we send to space provides benefits to Earth, and it all starts with a launch.”

Giulio Ranzo, CEO of Avio commented: “We are once again proud to contribute to the European Copernicus program and more broadly to an independent access to space for Europe through our launchers. With Vega C, we are ready to deliver our customers’ payloads to orbit with a scheduled increase in launch cadence for the upcoming years. I want to thank all the Avio team that worked hard on Vega C, with the collaboration of our partners ESA and Arianespace.”

After lift-off from Europe’s Spaceport, the Vega C launcher was propelled by the first three stages for a little over seven minutes. Then, the AVUM+ 4th stage ignited three times before releasing Sentinel-1C in the target orbit marking the successful launch. A fourth AVUM+ ignition deorbited the AVUM+ stage on a safe reentry trajectory.

A few minutes after separation, ESA acquired signals from the satellite, marking the successful mission for our partners and customers.

Sentinel-1C, which was designed and built by Thales Alenia Space, is the 107th spacecraft built by Thales Alenia Space launched by Arianespace. Sentinel-1C is part of Copernicus, the European Union’s Space program Earth observation component. The satellite, equipped with C-band synthetic aperture radar (SAR) imaging, has the advantage of operating at wavelengths that are not obstructed by clouds or lack of illumination and therefore can acquire data during day or night under all weather conditions. The applications are numerous and the images bring most valuable resources, for instance, for urban planners, for monitoring shifts from earthquakes, landslides or volcanic uplift. SAR images are the best way of tracking land subsidence and structural damage.

This launch is the 6th Sentinel satellite in the Copernicus program to be launched by Arianespace after 5 successful launches, including three on Vega: Sentinel-2A in 2015 (VV05), Sentinel-2B in 2017 (VV09) and Sentinel-2C earlier this year on September 4, 2024 on the final Vega launcher (VV24). The European Commission has awarded to Arianespace and to Vega C four other Copernicus satellites: Sentinel-1D, Sentinel-3C, Sentinel CO2M-A and CO2M-B.

The VV25 launch at a glance:

• 351^st launch by Arianespace
• 10% of the satellites launched by Arianespace are Earth observation satellites
• 6^th Sentinel satellite launched by Arianespace
• 51^st mission for the European Space Agency
• 3^rd Vega C launch
• 107^th spacecraft built by Thales Alenia Space launched by Arianespace