SENTINEL-3a spacecraft has been successfully launched into orbit with high power waveguide, coaxial isolators and other passive components produced by TRAK Microwave in Dundee.
The SENTINEL-3a payload, launched from the Plestsk Cosmodrome today at ~18:00 UTC, contains several equipments containing TRAK products supplied almost 3 years ago to 4 customers in the EU and the is 3rd COPERNICUS mission to have been launched and 6th payload in the SENTINEL constellation to use TRAK products.
Carrying a suite of 4 cutting-edge instruments, Sentinel-3a will measure systematically Earth’s oceans, land, ice and atmosphere to monitor and understand large-scale global dynamics. The mission is based on a two identical satellites orbiting in constellation for optimum global coverage and data delivery.
With a focus towards our oceans, Sentinel-3a measures the temperature, colour and height of the sea surface as well as the thickness of sea ice. These measurements will be used to monitor changes in sea level, marine pollution and biological productivity.
Over land, thie mission will monitor wildfires, map the way land is used and measure the height of rivers and lakes – complementing the high-resolution measurements of its sister mission Sentinel-2.
The mission is the result of close collaboration between ESA, the European Commission, Eumetsat, France’s CNES space agency, industry, service providers and data users, designed and built by a consortium of around 100 companies under the leadership of Thales Alenia Space, France.
SENTINEL-3B is scheduled for launch in 2017.
