Thales Alenia Space and Airbus Defense and Space have been awarded contracts to build next-generation radar satellites for Europe's Copernicus Earth observation program.
10 June 2026 European Space Agency (THIS) reported, which selected Thales to build two Sentinel-1 Next Generation satellites (of), and Airbus will provide the radar payloads. The two companies served in similar roles during the development of the previous Sentinel-1 satellites.
Sentinel-1 NG satellites will be the fifth and sixth in the overall line of Sentinel-1 missions, equipped with synthetic aperture radar payloads (SAR) for earth science applications. Three previous devices — Sentinel-1A, -1C and -1D are currently in operation, while Sentinel-1B failed in orbit at the end 2021 year. Sentinel-1 NG will provide improvements over previous Sentinel-1 satellites, including improved geometric resolution 5 on 5 meters compared to 5 on 20 meters in operating devices. The satellites will also be able to operate in modes with a larger coverage bandwidth 400 km compared to 250 km and observe the poles using active beam steering.
The Sentinel-1 missions are part of the wider Copernicus programme, which is jointly implemented by ESA and the European Commission, to provide Earth observation data using a wide range of instruments. ESA has not yet announced when the Sentinel-1 NG satellites will be launched, but they are unlikely to be ready until the early 2030s. Airbus, in its statement about the contract, predicted the first launch in 2034 year. Sentinel-1A has been in orbit for more than ten years, Sentinel-1C was launched in December 2024 year, Sentinel-1D — in November 2025 year, and each has a nominal life of seven years.
Source: https://spacenews.com