This image showcases part of the Netherlands, including Amsterdam and the region of Flevoland. Credit: contains modified Copernicus Sentinel data (2024), processed by ESA
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Less than a week after its launch, the Copernicus Sentinel-1C satellite has delivered its first radar images of Earth—offering a glimpse into its capabilities for environmental monitoring. These initial images feature regions of interest, including Svalbard in Norway, the Netherlands, and Brussels, Belgium.

Launched on 5 December from Europe's Spaceport in French Guiana aboard a Vega-C rocket, Sentinel-1C is equipped with a state-of-the-art C-band synthetic aperture radar (SAR) instrument. This cutting-edge technology allows the satellite to deliver high-resolution imagery day and night, in all weather conditions, supporting critical applications such as environmental management, disaster response and climate change research.

Now, the new satellite has delivered its initial set of radar images over Europe, flawlessly processed by the Sentinel-1 Ground Segment. These images showcase an exceptional level of data quality for initial imagery, highlighting the outstanding efforts of the entire Sentinel-1 team over the past years.

The first image (see figure above), captured just 56 hours and 23 minutes after liftoff, features Svalbard, a remote Norwegian archipelago in the Arctic Ocean.

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