| Sentinel-2B | |
| Mission Type: | Earth observation |
| Operator: | European Space Agency (ESA) |
| Cospar Id: | 2017-013A |
| Satcat: | 42063 |
| Mission Duration: | 7 years (planned)[1] (elapsed) |
| Spacecraft Type: | Sentinel-2 |
| Manufacturer: | Airbus Defence and Space |
| Dimensions: | 3.4x |
| Power: | 1700 watts |
| Launch Date: | 7 March 2017, 01:49:24 UTC[2] |
| Launch Rocket: | Vega (VV-09) |
| Launch Site: | Kourou, SLV |
| Launch Contractor: | Arianespace |
| Orbit Reference: | Geocentric orbit[3] |
| Orbit Regime: | Low Earth orbit |
| Orbit Altitude: | 780 km |
| Orbit Inclination: | 98.56° |
| Orbit Period: | 100.45 minutes |
| Apsis: | gee |
| Instruments: | Multi-Spectral Imager (MSI) |
| Trans Band: | S-band (TT&C support), X-band and optical laser through European Data Relay System (EDRS) (data acquisition) |
| Trans Bandwidth: | 64 kbit/s upload (S-band), 128 kbit/s - 2 Mbit/s download (S-band), 520 Mbit/s download (X-band / Optical) |
| Programme: | Sentinel-2 |
| Previous Mission: | Sentinel-2A |
| Next Mission: | Sentinel-2C |
Sentinel-2B is a European optical imaging satellite that was launched on 7 March 2017. It is the second Sentinel-2 satellite launched as part of the European Space Agency's Copernicus Programme, and with its orbit phased 180° against its sister satellite, Sentinel-2A. The satellite carries a wide swath high-resolution multispectral imager with 13 spectral bands. It provides information for agriculture and forestry, among other services, allowing for prediction of crop yields.[4]
A €105 million contract for the construction of the spacecraft was signed in March 2010 by ESA's Director of Earth Observation Programmes and the CEO of Astrium Satellites.[5] It was completed in June 2016,[6] [7] and the satellite was transported to the European Space Research and Technology Centre (ESTEC) for the test campaign.[8] [9]
The spacecraft arrived at the Centre Spatial Guyanais on 6 January 2017 for pre-launch operations.[10]
Launch took place at the nominal time of 01:49:24 UTC on 7 March 2017 on board Vega flight VV09. The spacecraft was injected into its target orbit at 02:47:21 UTC.[2] [11]