The European Space Agency (ESA) has successfully launched two Earth-observation satellites into orbit on board a Vega-C rocket, in a mission that aims to give scientists new data about the health of the planet.
On Tuesday 15 September at 03:21 Central European Summer Time, the FLEX (Fluorescence Explorer) satellite and Copernicus Sentinel-3C satellite were launched from Europe’s Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana. They named the mission VV30.
The two spacecraft were deployed as anticipated at an altitude of around 820 kilometres above Earth and both satellites were working independently less than two hours after liftoff.
FLEX is a mission to study vegetation by measuring the weak fluorescence plants emit during photosynthesis. Scientists will utilise the data to improve understanding of plant health, productivity and how vegetation responds to environmental change and climate challenges.
The mission is also noteworthy since FLEX will deliver global observations of photosynthetic activity, giving researchers yet another tool to investigate how vegetation interacts with Earth’s carbon cycle and a changing climate.
Sentinel-3C is meanwhile the third satellite of the Copernicus Sentinel-3 series. It will monitor the Earth’s oceans, land, ice and air, making measurements to help weather prediction, climate science and environmental monitoring.
The satellite will measure parameters like ocean and land-surface conditions and will help offer near-real-time information for ocean and meteorological services.
The two satellites will work in complimentary ways, with FLEX concentrating on vegetation fluorescence, while Sentinel-3C will make broader studies of Earth’s surface and atmosphere, ESA stated. The satellites are also expected to be operating in the same orbital plane.
The spacecraft was launched into space by the Vega-C rocket operated by Italy’s Avio from Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana. The mission is another step in Europe’s attempts to boost its autonomous space capabilities and increase its ability to observe and understand changes occurring on Earth.
The successful launch adds to Europe’s burgeoning Earth-observation infrastructure and provides data that will benefit climate scientists, farmers, environmental agencies, meteorologists and policymakers.
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