Eastern Gamagrass – Tripsacum dactyloides

by | Dec 10, 2023 | NE Native Grasses

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Sentinel-2B is a European optical imaging satellite that was launched on 7 March 2017. It is the second Sentinel-2 satellite launched as part of the European Space Agency's Copernicus Programme, and with its orbit phased 180° against its sister satellite, Sentinel-2A. The satellite carries a wide swath high-resolution multispectral imager with 13 spectral bands. It provides information for agriculture and forestry, among other services, allowing for prediction of crop yields.[4]

Mission history

A €105 million contract for the construction of the spacecraft was signed in March 2010 by ESA's Director of Earth Observation Programmes and the CEO of Astrium Satellites.[5] It was completed in June 2016,[6][7] and the satellite was transported to the European Space Research and Technology Centre (ESTEC) for the test campaign.[8][9]

Launch

The spacecraft arrived at the Centre Spatial Guyanais on 6 January 2017 for pre-launch operations.[10]

Launch took place at the nominal time of 01:49:24 UTC on 7 March 2017 on board Vega flight VV09. The spacecraft was injected into its target orbit at 02:47:21 UTC.[2][11]

References

  1. ^ "Sentinel-2: The Operational Compernicus Optical High Resolution Land Mission" (PDF). European Space Agency. 2013. Retrieved 23 June 2015.
  2. ^ a b Clark, Stephen (7 March 2017). "Environmental sentinel launched from French Guiana". Spaceflight Now. Retrieved 9 March 2017.
  3. ^ "Sentinel 2B - Orbit". Heavens-Above. 9 March 2017. Retrieved 9 March 2017.
  4. ^ "Sentinel-2B Launch Preparations Off to a Flying Start". European Space Agency. 12 January 2017. Retrieved 10 March 2017.
  5. ^ "Astrium to build ESA's second Sentinel-2 satellite for GMES". European Space Agency. 31 March 2010. Retrieved 1 February 2017.
  6. ^ "Airbus DS completes Sentinel-2B – Satellite News Digest". SupremeSAT. 16 June 2016. Retrieved 1 February 2017.
  7. ^ "Airbus Defence and Space completes second Copernicus "Eye"" (Press release). Airbus Defence and Space. 15 June 2016. Retrieved 1 February 2017.
  8. ^ Porter, G. (21 June 2016). "Sentinel-2B entering LSS". flickr.com. European Space Agency. Retrieved 1 February 2017.
  9. ^ "Noordwijk Witnesses Successful Testing Of Sentinel-2B". Sat News. 17 November 2016. Retrieved 11 March 2023.
  10. ^ Rider, Honora (12 January 2017). "Sentinel-2B unveiled". European Space Agency. Retrieved 1 February 2017.
  11. ^ "Launch Kit: VV09, Sentinel-2B" (PDF). Arianespace. 27 February 2017. Archived from the original (PDF) on 12 March 2017. Retrieved 9 March 2017.

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