After 6 years in orbit, we say goodbye to @CopernicusEU #Sentinel1B and thank you to teams here at ESA’s #MissionControl, who for months have worked tirelessly to troubleshoot the issue that has now resulted in end of mission 👉esa.int/Applications/O…
As the first mission of the @CopernicusEU Programme, Sentinel-1 comprises two satellites orbiting 180 degrees apart, providing all-weather, day-and-night imagery of Earth’s surface, designed, built, launched and flown by @ESA.
The partner satellite, Sentinel-1A, remains healthy in orbit, continuing to deliver high-quality radar images for a multitude of applications.

Our focus is on fast-tracking the launch of Sentinel-1C.
Sentinel-1 Ops Manager Alistair O’Connell: “We have #Sentinel1B under control, all other systems except the power-affected unit which prevents the radar from being switched on, continue to function nominally. We perform reg. monitoring of the🛰️health & routine orbit manoeuvres”
… ”We will keep #Sentinel1B under control until we can begin the disposal process, which we will start after Sentinel-1C is safely in orbit” ...

📷Some of the #Sentinel1 control team at #ESOC #MissionControl, Germany
“Deorbiting Sentinel-1B will be in accordance with #spacedebris mitigation requirements that were in place for ESA projects at the time of design of Sentinel-1A & B, meaning reentry in the atmosphere will take place within 25 years"
... "In practice, #Sentinel1B's reentry duration is expected to be much shorter.”

#ResponsibleSpace
#SpaceDebris
What are "reentries", and why are they so important for #SpaceSustainability?

Find out more in the infographic and podcast series from @ESA and @UNOOSA 👉esa.int/Space_Safety/S…

• • •

Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to force a refresh
 

Keep Current with ESA Operations

ESA Operations Profile picture

Stay in touch and get notified when new unrolls are available from this author!

Read all threads

This Thread may be Removed Anytime!

PDF

Twitter may remove this content at anytime! Save it as PDF for later use!

Try unrolling a thread yourself!

how to unroll video
  1. Follow @ThreadReaderApp to mention us!

  2. From a Twitter thread mention us with a keyword "unroll"
@threadreaderapp unroll

Practice here first or read more on our help page!

More from @esaoperations

May 18
On Monday, for the first time, we performed a set of manoeuvres to avoid a high-risk collision w. #SpaceDebris created in the #Cosmos1408 anti-satellite test last year.

This was a difficult #CollisionAvoidance manoeuvre.👏👏to our #Sentinel1A Control Team & Space Debris Office
#CollisionAvoidance monitoring is unfortunately routine work at #MissionControl, and our teams are well-practiced in reacting to high-risk events.

This near head-on #collision was however unique; the situation evolved rapidly, was tricky to avoid, AND we had <24 hrs warning
Sentinal-1A, part of the @CopernicusEU Sentinel-1 radar observatory providing day-and-night images of Earth’s surface, had its orbit altered by 140 m in order to prevent collision with a debris fragment ~several cm in diameter

#CollisionAvoidance
#SpaceSwerve
Read 7 tweets
Oct 2, 2021
A flawless, radiant, #Mercuryflyby

After a flawless flyby of Mercury, @BepiColombo is starting to feel the heat. Image
At 01:34:41 CEST this morning, BepiColombo passed just 199 kilometres from the hot, rocky, innermost planet – the outcome of months of work to get the spacecraft into a precise trajectory for the first rendezvous with its target planet.

#MercuryFlyby
“It was flawless. Everything was perfect from the spacecraft point of view, and as expected, BepiColombo has really started to feel the heat,” explains Elsa Montagnon, Spacecraft #Operations Manager for the mission.
Read 9 tweets
Oct 29, 2020
Solar cycle 25: the Sun wakes up🌤️

Experts on the Solar Cycle 25 Prediction Panel recently announced the Sun has officially entered a new cycle, its 25th since we’ve had enough data to reliably recognise them.

👉 esa.int/Safety_Securit…

ESA/NASA SOHO, 2012 - Brendan Gallagher
While we can expect #spaceweather to get more exciting in the next few years, with peak sunspot activity expected in 2025, the panel came to the consensus that this next cycle will be very similar to the previous – both generally weaker than the average solar cycle.

©️NOAA
“While small and medium-sized solar storms are more likely during peak solar activity,” says Jussi Luntama, Head of ESA’s #SpaceWeather Office, “its important to remember that individual large solar events can happen any time, independent of we are in the solar cycle.”
Read 5 tweets
Oct 27, 2020
ESA's #missioncontrol centre is preparing for the launch of #Sentinel6 on 10 Nov.

In particular, teams are rehearsing the 'Launch and Early Orbit Phase' – the riskiest period in the fledgling spacecraft's life

Find out more🛰️👉esa.int/Enabling_Suppo… Image
Like a bird hatching from the egg, this is the period in which a new spacecraft unfurls its solar arrays, wakes up to test its core functioning and manoeuvres into the correct path, all the while at its most vulnerable to the hazards of space.

#Sentinel6 Image
The @CopernicusEU #Sentinel6 Michael Freilich satellite will ensure the 'continuity of service’ of the Jason missions currently providing data on Earth’s changing oceans, but reaching the end of their lives. Image
Read 9 tweets
Jun 28, 2020
2️⃣ days til #AsteroidDay!

The second most likely asteroid to strike Earth is 2018 VP1. A tiny little thing, it is estimated to be just 2.4 m in diameter and has a (relatively) high chance of striking Earth in November this year of 1 in 193

#SpaceCare💙
#PlanetaryDefence🌍
Even though 2018 VP1 seems very small, meteorites still regularly reach Earth's surface - it all depends on the composition of the asteroid.

ESA & @mfnberlin are currently studying the physical processes as an asteroid enters Earth's atmosphere with velocities above 11 km/s
In 2018, a similarly small object - 2018 LA - entered Earth over Botswana and South Africa. This was only the third asteroid that was detected before it impacted Earth

📷Barend Swanepoel
Read 4 tweets
Oct 1, 2019
To date, more than 5800 launches have resulted in over 44,000 tracked objects in orbit, of which more than 20,000 remain in space and are regularly tracked by surveillance networks around the globe
#SpaceDebris🛰️
~26% of catalogued objects are satellites, and only a small fraction of those - about 2000 - are still operating today
~17% of tracked objects are used upper stages of rockets and mission-related objects like launch adapters and lens covers
A drifting thermal blanket,📸1998
More than half of the #spacedebris population was generated by 500+ in-space break-ups. The two major fragmentation events are clearly visible as jumps in the graph:
2007: Chinese anti-satellite missile test
2009: Collision between Iridium 33 and Kosmos-2251 satellites
Read 9 tweets

Did Thread Reader help you today?

Support us! We are indie developers!


This site is made by just two indie developers on a laptop doing marketing, support and development! Read more about the story.

Become a Premium Member ($3/month or $30/year) and get exclusive features!

Become Premium

Don't want to be a Premium member but still want to support us?

Make a small donation by buying us coffee ($5) or help with server cost ($10)

Donate via Paypal

Or Donate anonymously using crypto!

Ethereum

0xfe58350B80634f60Fa6Dc149a72b4DFbc17D341E copy

Bitcoin

3ATGMxNzCUFzxpMCHL5sWSt4DVtS8UqXpi copy

Thank you for your support!

Follow Us on Twitter!

:(