ESA signs Sentinel-1 satellite contract

PARIS, June 18 (UPI) -- The European Space Agency and Thales Alenia Space have signed a $305 million contract for the design and development of the Sentinel-1 satellite.

Sentinel-1 will be the first Earth observation satellite to be built for Europe's Global Monitoring for Environment and Security, or GMES, program.

ESA Director General Jean-Jacques Dordain and Thales Alenia Space President Pascale Sourisse signed the contract on behalf of the Italian branch of the company Monday during the International Paris Air Show.

The ESA-planned five satellite Sentinel series will constitute the first operational satellite program involved in the GMES project, which is a joint initiative of the European Commission and ESA.

Sentinel-1, expected to be launched in 2011, will weigh about 4,850 pounds at launch and will image the Earth in 155 mile-diameter swaths.

The Sentinel-2 and 3 satellites, scheduled for launch in 2012, will support land and ocean monitoring while Sentinel-4 and 5 will be dedicated to meteorology and climatology through atmospheric chemistry.