Free Esa Sentinel-1d Delivers First High-resolution Images 2025

The first high-resolution images have been received from Copernicus Sentinel-1D and were shared publicly for the first time at the European Space Agency’s Ministerial Council, held today in Bremen, Germany. Glaciers in Antarctica, the tip of South America, as well as the city of Bremen, are visible in these stunning radar images.

The groundbreaking Copernicus Sentinel-1 mission saw the arrival in orbit of its latest satellite earlier in November: Sentinel-1D was launched on 4 November, on board an Ariane 6 launcher from Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana.

Once in orbit, the satellite and its instruments – it carries a 12 m-long synthetic aperture radar (SAR) instrument – were switched on, ready to capture images during a pass over the Antarctic and South America two days after launch. On the night of 6 November (European time), the first images were captured over the Antarctic Peninsula, the Tierra del Fuego and the Thwaites Glacier. Some six hours later, on the morning of 7 November, Sentinel-1D also captured images over Bremen, in Germany. The data was then transmitted, or ‘downlinked’, from the satellite to the ground station, in Matera (Italy), which is part of the Copernicus Ground Segment. All this was done within 50 hours of launch, which is likely to be the shortest time from launch to data delivery for a radar-based Earth observation satellite.

According to Nuno Miranda, ESA’s Sentinel-1 Mission Manager, the images are of unprecedented data quality for a ‘first light’ acquisition. They are very similar to the images captured not so long ago by Sentinel-1C, which, according to Nuno, is very promising for the commissioning phase. He noted, “These images have been downlinked and processed within an exceptionally short timeframe. Some of us remember that when Sentinel-1B was launched, it delivered its first radar images within two hours of activation. Sentinel-1D achieved this in an even faster time, setting what we believe is a new record for space radar. This remarkable performance reflects the dedication and exceptional preparation of all the teams involved.”

Radar instruments can image Earth’s surface through clouds, precipitation, regardless of sunlight, making them particularly well suited for monitoring polar regions. The Sentinel-1C and -1D satellites also carry an Automatic Identification System (AIS) instrument – improving the mission capacity to detect ships and sea pollution. The Sentinel-1D AIS was also activated as the satellite pas

Source: HackerNews