With Sentinel-1A is now sitting patiently atop the Soyuz rocket, liftoff from Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana is set for today at  23:02 CEST (21:02 GMT)

Official authorisation to launch was given following yesterday’s Arianespace pre-launch review. This process confirmed the readiness of Soyuz rocket and Sentinel-1A passenger, along with the readiness of the launch site and network of tracking stations.

Soyuz being positioned in launch tower. (ESA–S. Corvaja)

Soyuz being positioned in launch tower. (ESA–S. Corvaja)

With the weather also fair, everything is currently ‘green’ and on schedule. The next step will be to fuel the rocket, which starts four hours before liftoff.

We’ve been working on Sentinel-1A here at the launch site since it arrived at the end of February. It’sthrough numerous tests to make sure that everything is in perfect condition to provide essential radar imagery that will be available through Europe’s Copernicus programme.

Ten years in the making, Sentinel-1A marks the beginning of a new era in observing Earth from space. An era that focus on providing data for everyday applications to improve the way the environment is managed, benefiting us all.

Weather satellites have been providing operational data for years, and now the family of Sentinel missions will do the same for environmental monitoring.

Guido Levrini, the Copernicus Space Segment Programme Manager, said, “On one side, this launch is the culmination of a decade of personal professional investment and on the other side it is the beginning of a large-scale construction. It is the first stone of a soon-to-materialise splendid cathedral –we already get a glimpse of its roof from the distance.”

Sentinel-1 is a two-satellite constellation: Sentinel-1B will be launched next year.