The overwhelming emotions watching the launch yesterday were tension coupled with a profound sense of wonder. We were watching science in action but having been around the base for a few days we were also incredibly tense about something going wrong.

But it all came good in the end.  Sentinel-1A powered into the sky and has now opened its large radar antenna and solar wings.  

During the launch the Sentinel satellite worked liked a ‘transformer’ in that it was folded up. The wings and the radar are folded down to fit into the Soyuz rocket fairing; this is what protects the satellite. After a series of stage separations and burns the satellite then made its final separation from the rocket.

Then, over a period of 10 hours, the satellite unfolded its solar wings and radar antenna and began its mission of taking real-time photos of the land and ocean to help gauge environmental and security concerns for the good of us all.   

Somewhere up there right now the satellite is monitoring the world below. The Sentinel-1a satellite is taking real time photos of the planet which will help with things like oil spills and earthquakes.

Here’s the moment it all began; thrilling…   

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