ESA awards €700m contract for next-generation Copernicus Sentinel-1 radar satellites amid risk of data gap

The deal, announced at the ILA Berlin Air Show, covers an initial €700 million tranche. Thales Alenia Space will act as the main contractor, while Airbus Defence and Space in Germany will supply the key radar instrument, a C-band synthetic aperture radar used to scan the Earth’s surface day and night, regardless of weather conditions.

The new satellites are meant to replace and upgrade the current Sentinel-1 fleet. One of the older satellites, Sentinel-1A, is due to be taken out of service after more than 12 years in orbit, while another unit was already lost in 2022. That leaves only the newer spacecraft in operation, and ESA is preparing for their eventual replacement.

In terms of performance, the next generation is expected to be a clear step up. ESA says the new satellites will deliver much sharper images, with resolution improving to around 5 by 5 metres, compared with the current 5 by 20 metres. They will also be able to cover a wider area in a single pass, roughly 400 kilometres instead of about 250.

A notable change is the expansion of coverage toward the polar regions. ESA highlights this as important for tracking rapidly changing environments such as sea ice and glaciers, where climate shifts are especially visible.

The programme sits under Copernicus, the EU’s Earth observation system run together with ESA. It already operates a large fleet of satellites across different missions, and the data is freely shared with governments, scientists and private users for things like disaster response, environmental monitoring and maritime surveillance.

There is, however, a timing issue in the background. Industry reports and European media note that delays in development have already pushed the planned launch of the first next-generation Sentinel-1 satellite from 2032 to 2034. That raises concerns about a possible gap in radar coverage if current satellites reach the end of their lifespan before the new ones are ready.

Thales Alenia Space will lead the design and assembly of the satellites, continuing its long involvement in the Sentinel programme. Airbus Defence and Space remains responsible for the radar system itself, while several European countries contribute smaller components, including power systems, solar panels and control units.

The current Sentinel-1 mission has been running for more than a decade and is widely used for monitoring floods, land movement, deforestation, sea ice and other environmental changes. Its ability to “see” through clouds and work at night has made it one of the core tools of Europe’s Earth observation system.

The next generation is expected not just to continue that work, but to make it more detailed and more frequent, with additional observing modes for oceans, ice and land surfaces, and improved support for maritime tracking and environmental analysis.

Sourse: Defence24