On 4 November 2025, the Copernicus Sentinel-1D satellite was launched aboard an Ariane 6 rocket from Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana. With the mission control team at the European Space Operations Centre operating the satellite in space, a launch event was held at the establishment to follow and celebrate this milestone launch. The video offers a peek at some of the event’s highlights.

Sentinel-1D has now joined its sibling, Sentinel-1C. When fully commissioned, it will take over from Sentinel-1A, which has been in orbit for 11 years, well beyond its planned lifetime. Developed by the European Space Agency, the Sentinel-1 mission delivers radar images of Earth’s surface for Copernicus – the Earth observation component of the European Union’s Space programme, for science, and more.