Europe’s space Sentinels - Competition
21 August 2013
Based on over 30 years of experience in flying Earth observation satellites, ESA is developing five new types of spacecraft, known as Sentinels. Each Sentinel mission is made up of two satellites to ensure maximum Earth coverage.
These eyes in the sky will send back huge amounts of data about the Earth’s surface and atmosphere. This information will be used by Europe’s Global Monitoring for Environment and Security (GMES) programme.
Sentinel-1 is an all-weather, day-and-night radar imaging mission. Its many tasks will include monitoring of Arctic sea ice, checking for marine pollution (such as oil spills), mapping of land movements, studying forests, water and soil, and supporting disaster relief. The polar-orbiting Sentinel-1A satellite was launched on 3 April 2014.
Sentinel-2 is another pair of polar-orbiting satellites. They will provide detailed optical images of vegetation, soil and water cover, as well as coastal areas. The first Sentinel-2 satellite is planned for launch in 2016.
Sentinel-3 will carry several instruments to measure sea surface height, land and sea surface temperature, and ocean colour (created by tiny living creatures). Sentinel-3A should be launched in 2015.
Sentinel-4 and Sentinel-5 will both monitor air quality, the ozone layer, solar radiation and climate change. Sentinel-4 will consist of several instruments on board two Meteosat Third Generation weather satellites in orbit above the equator. The first Sentinel-4 payload is expected to launch in 2017.
The Sentinel-5 instruments will be carried on a polar orbiting MetOp Second Generation (MSG) satellite, flying at a much lower altitude than Sentinel-4. The launch of the first MSG is expected in 2019.
This month's competition: Sentinel-3
Entries to reach us before: 29 Februrary 2016
The best entries will be selected to go into the Space Gallery, and the overall winner will receive a special prize from the European Space Agency. Check out the ESA Kids website regularly to see who our monthly winners are!
Email entries to: kids@esa.int or send to: ESA Kids, c/o Ms. Karina De Castris, ESA-ESRIN, Via Galileo Galilei, C.P. 64 I-00044 Frascati, Italy.
Please note: artwork cannot be returned. Due to the large number of entries we receive each month, we do not send letters to participants acknowledging receipt. Only the winners are contacted by ESA. Maximum age limit for competition entries is 12.
