Here’s a unique perspective, from cameras mounted on the upper stage of the Soyuz rocket that sent Europe’s Sentinel-1A satellite into space last week. The satellite lifted off from Europe’s spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana at 21:02 GMT (23:02 CEST) on April 3, 2014. The mission successfully deployed the Sentinel-1A spacecraft to a sun-synchronous orbit.
The mission is the first of six families of dedicated missions that will make up the core of Europe’s Copernicus environmental monitoring network. ESA says:
Copernicus will provide operational information on the world’s land surfaces, oceans and atmosphere to support environmental and security policymaking and the needs of individual citizens and service providers.