Sentinel-2B

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]

Sentinel-2B

Model of a Sentinel 2 satellite
Mission type	Earth observation
Operator	European Space Agency (ESA)
COSPAR ID	2017-013A
SATCAT no.	42063
Website	Sentinel-2 (ESA)
Mission duration	7 years (planned)[1] 8 years, 2 months, 17 days (elapsed)
Spacecraft properties
Spacecraft type	Sentinel-2
Manufacturer	Airbus Defence and Space
Launch mass	1,140 kilograms (2,510 lb)
Dry mass	1,017 kilograms (2,242 lb)
Dimensions	3.4 by 1.8 by 2.35 metres (11.2 ft × 5.9 ft × 7.7 ft)
Power	1700 watts
Start of mission
Launch date	7 March 2017, 01:49:24 UTC[2]
Rocket	Vega (VV-09)
Launch site	Kourou, SLV
Contractor	Arianespace
Orbital parameters
Reference system	Geocentric orbit[3]
Regime	Low Earth orbit
Altitude	780 km
Inclination	98.56°
Period	100.45 minutes
Transponders
Band	S-band (TT&C support), X-band and optical laser through European Data Relay System (EDRS) (data acquisition)
Bandwidth	64 kbit/s upload (S-band), 128 kbit/s - 2 Mbit/s download (S-band), 520 Mbit/s download (X-band / Optical)
Instruments
Multi-Spectral Imager (MSI)
Sentinel-2 ← Sentinel-2A Sentinel-2C →

Mission history

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]

Launch

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]

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  Sentinel 2B's descending orbital path