Astrium team to build Sentinel-2

Astrium has been appointed by ESA to be the prime contractor to build Sentinel-2, the first optical satellite in the Sentinel series.

The main industrial contract worth €195m was signed yesterday by Volker Liebig, ESA´s director of Earth observation at ESA, Evert Dudok, CEO Astrium Satellites and Uwe Minne, Astrium´s director of Earth Observation and Science in Friedrichshafen, Germany.

According to Astrium, Sentinel-2 will provide a permanent record of comprehensive data to help inform the agricultural and forestry industry sectors as well as disaster control and humanitarian relief programmes. Sentinel-2 will also be able to observe natural disasters such as floods, volcanic eruptions, subsidence and landslides.

In the Sentinel-2 mission programme, Astrium in Friedrichshafen will be responsible for the satellite’s system design and platform, as well as for satellite integration and testing. Astrium Toulouse will supply the multi-spectral imaging instrument (MSI), and Astrium Spain will take control of the satellite’s structure and will produce its thermal equipment and cable harness. The industrial core team also comprises Germany’s Jena Optronik, France’s Boostec, and Spain’s Sener and GMV.