Celebrating 10 years of Sentinel-2

The first Copernicus Sentinel-2 satellite, Sentinel-2A, was launched 10 years ago today – exactly. 

Marking a first for ESA, Sentinel-2A combined a high-resolution multispectral imager with a 290 km-wide coverage path, to return spectacular views of Earth’s changing lands for a new perspective of our land and vegetation for agriculture, forest and water management, for example. The mission, however, has gone above and beyond – also returning new information about our marine biology, methane emissions and changing polar ice. 

Designed with an in-orbit life of seven years, Sentinel-2A is still going strong, and accompanied by its sibling satellites Sentinel-2B, launched in March 2017, and Sentinel-2C, launched in September 2024.