GMES Sentinel-2 satellite contract signed

The European Space Agency and Astrium today signed a €195 million contract to provide the first Sentinel-2 earth observation satellite, devoted to monitoring the land environment, as part of the European GMES programme. As prime contractor, Astrium is responsible for the design, development and integration of the satellite, which will perform a high-end multi-spectral optical imaging mission.

The contract was signed today in Friedrichshafen by Volker Liebig, ESA Director of Earth Observation, Evert Dudok, President of Astrium Satellites, and Uwe Minne, Director of Earth Observation & Science for Astrium, in the presence of the European Commission and Ulrich Kasparick, German Parliamentary State Secretary at the Transport, Building & Urban Affairs Ministry.

Underlining the value of this mission for Europe, Volker Liebig commented: "This satellite is an important element of GMES and will enable Europe to continuously observe changes in the environment".

Global Monitoring for Environment and Security (GMES) aims to deliver environment and security services and is being led by the European Commission. It is the European response to the ever-increasing demands of effective environmental policies. At the same time, it is the European contribution to the Global Earth Observation System of Systems (GEOSS).

ESA is responsible for implementation of the GMES Space Component, a set of earth observation missions involving ESA, EU/ESA Member States and other partners. Central elements of the Space Component are the five families of Sentinel missions.