The Sentinel-2A satellite was successfully launched during the night of 22-23 June from the Kourou space centre in French Guyana. It is part of the space component of the European Earth observation programme Copernicus. It is the second of a six satellite series which will work together to provide European Union states with a flow of space data for analysing the environment of our planet, including climate change. It will be used for both public service projects and commercial applications.
The mission of Sentinel-2A, and of Sentinel-2B foreseen to be launched in 2016, is to map the Earth continents using high-resolution optical sensors. The observation capacity of the two satellites will enable monitoring the whole planet land cover in only five days. A wide spectrum of monitoring applications is targeted: agriculture, forest studies, lakes and rivers, urban development, natural disaster, observation of glaciers and coastal areas, etc.
As expert of satellite image processing for over 30 years, CS is implementing the following services for the European & French Space Agencies:
- Development of the Image Processing Facility, a key component of the payload data ground segment, that was ready to produce images since the very first acquisitions (integrating high added-value components promoted by CS: OTB, OREKIT-RUGGED)
- Implementation of calibration and quality control tools for the satellite instrument as part of the Mission Performance Assessment project
- Quality control, Calibration and Validation, as well as End-to-End Monitoring for Sentinel-2 images, as the Mission Performance Centre Prime
- Atmospheric & Cloud Correction software to improve images, based on multi-mission tool: MACCS.
CS is also a leading actor for the processing and dissemination of Copernicus data to end users, in particular thanks to the development of the generic Sentinel-2 Toolbox, and is producing one of the first agriculture applications based on Sentinel-2 data (Sentinel 2 for Agriculture project).
“Involved in Sentinel-2 and also in Sentinel-3, dedicated to ocean surveillance, CS works for European agencies and operators (European Space Agency, Centre National d’Etudes Spatiales, European Commission and Eumetsat) and also for Large Space Integrators, supplying sub-systems for their ground segments. CS is therefore a major player in the Copernicus program,” concludes Sylvain D’Hoine, Director of the CS Space and Geo-information Business Unit.
About CS
CS is a leading designer, integrator and operator of critical systems. CS posted revenues of 162.2 M€ in 2014, and employs 1,770 staff in France and abroad. CS is listed on the Euronext Paris exchange – Compartment C (Shares: Euroclear 7896 / ISIN FR 0007317813). For more information: www.c-s.fr
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