Thales Alenia Space will build the Sentinel-1 NG satellites with radar imaging payloads from Airbus Defence and Space. Credit: Thales Alenia Space
WASHINGTON — Thales Alenia Space and Airbus Defence and Space won contracts to build the next generation of radar imaging satellites for Europe’s Copernicus Earth observation program.
The European Space Agency announced June 10 that it selected Thales to build two Sentinel-1 Next Generation (NG) satellites, with Airbus providing the radar payloads. The two companies had similar roles in the development of earlier Sentinel-1 spacecraft.
Thales said it signed a contract whose first tranche is worth 700 million euros ($807 million), but neither the company nor ESA disclosed the total value of the contract. Airbus said its contract with Thales for the radar payloads is worth 345 million euros.
The Sentinel-1 NG spacecraft would be the fifth and sixth of the overall Sentinel-1 line of missions, which are equipped with synthetic aperture radar (SAR) payloads for Earth science applications. Three of the earlier spacecraft — Sentinel-1A, -1C and -1D — are in service today, while Sentinel-1B malfunctioned in orbit in late 2021.
