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Arianespace launched the Sentinel 1B satellite using a Soyuz-STA/Fregat-M rocket on April 25, 2016. The mission lifted off from the Kourou Space Centre's Ensemble de Lancement Soyouz launch site. Sentinel-1B is a radar imaging satellite, the second of two satellites in the Sentinel-1 constellation. These two spacecraft are part of the European Union's Earth observation Copernicus programme. Some three days after rising out of the jungles of French Guiana, the satellite made its first observation. Sentinel 1B comes equipped with a C-SAR sensor. This device allows the spacecraft to collect high-resolution imagery regardless of cloud cover or other weather conditions. Operated by the European Space Agency (ESA) Sentinel 1B was constructed by Thales Alenia Space and Airbus Defence and Space. If everything goes as planned, Sentinel 1B will be in service for seven years.
