Living Planet Symposium Extras: Day 1
ESA's week-long Living Planet Symposium kicked off today in Vienna, Austria, bringing together scientists and researchers from around the globe. Throughout the week, we'll be covering the bigger stories in depth, such as the first images from ESA's Biomass mission published earlier today ? but we're also sharing some daily snapshots of other significant happenings.
So, today's few ?extras' include Sentinel-2 marking 10 years in orbit, ESA selects Telespazio to run the ground segment for the TRUTHS mission and listen to EarthCARE data transformed into a dragon's song for peace.
The Living Planet symposium is dedicated to exploring the latest discoveries in Earth science and showcasing the cutting-edge space technologies that help us monitor our ever-changing planet from space. More than just a series of presentations and talks, the symposium is a dynamic meeting place where policy-makers gain vital insights into environmental challenges, industry experts connect and collaborate, and students get hands-on experience through workshops and experiments. It also offers a platform to explore exciting new developments in the world of New Space ? the growing movement of private and commercial space ventures.
Here are a few ?extras' from today, Monday 23 June 2025.
The first Copernicus Sentinel-2 satellite, Sentinel-2A, was launched 10 years ago today ? exactly. On 23 June 2015, Sentinel-2A, developed by ESA, took to the skies on a Vega rocket from Europe's Spaceport in French Guiana, adding a high-resolution optical imaging system to Copernicus, the Earth observation component of the European Union's space programme.
Marking a first for ESA, Sentinel-2A combined a high-resolution multispectral imager with a 290 km-wide coverage path, to return spectacular views of Earth's changing lands for a new perspective of our land and vegetation for agriculture, forest and water management, for example. The mission, however, has gone above and beyond ? also returning new information about our marine biology, methane emissions and changing polar ice.
The images in the carousel below offer a glimpse of what the Sentinel-2 mission has brought us over the last 10 years.
Designed with an in-orbit life of seven years, Sentinel-2A is still going strong, and accompanied by its sibling satellites Sentinel-2B, launched in March 2017, and Sentinel-2C, launched in September 2024.
ESA's Sentinel-2 Mission Manager, Ferran Gascon, said, "We are incredibly proud to celebrate 10 years of Sentinel-2A in orbit today at the Living Planet Symposium. Not only has the satellite far exceeded its original design lifetime, but it continues to operate flawlessly ? a remarkable achievement that reflects Europe's leadership and excellence in satellite engineering and Earth observation.
"Sentinel-2A, and the mission as a whole, has offered an unparalleled view of Earth's landscapes, ecosystems and environmental changes. From supporting farmers and managing forests to tracking coastal health and ice loss, the data the mission provides has become an essential resource for science, policy and daily life.
Today's anniversary is not just a celebration of longevity, but of impact and innovation, and a reminder of what's possible when science, technology, and international collaboration come together."
Read more about the Copernicus Sentinel-2 mission
Today at ESA's Living Planet Symposium, ESA awarded a contract to Telespazio in the UK to develop the systems that will operate the TRUTHS satellite in orbit and process the valuable data it collects. These systems are a vital part of the mission and are being developed in parallel with the satellite and the supporting scientific research, all currently underway in the mission's development phase.
Data from ESA's TRUTHS mission will serve as a global reference standard, enabling measurements from other satellites to be directly compared with TRUTHS. This not only enhances their individual accuracy but also improves consistency across missions, allowing them to be used together more effectively in complex climate models.
TRUTHS observations are also crucial for determining Earth's energy budget ? the balance between incoming solar energy and energy radiated back into space. This balance drives our climate system, making highly accurate measurements vital for understanding climate change and tracking its evolution over time.
To do this, the TRUTHS satellite will carry two main instruments: the Cryogenic Solar Absolute Radiometer and the Hyperspectral Imaging Spectrometer, along with a novel onboard calibration system. Working together, these instruments will provide continuous measurements of both incoming solar radiation and the sunlight reflected back from Earth.
ESA's Director of Earth Observation Programmes, Simonetta Cheli, said, "A mission is more than just a satellite ? it includes the entire infrastructure needed to operate the satellite in orbit and to receive, process and manage the data it collects. This is what we call the ground segment.
"We're pleased to entrust to an industrial consortium led by Telespazio UK with the responsibility of developing and running the important ground segment for the TRUTHS mission.
"TRUTHS is a truly exciting mission. It will serve as a benchmark, allowing data from other satellites to be more easily compared and calibrated, ultimately improving the reliability of climate measurements worldwide."
ESA is building TRUTHS under the umbrella of its Earth Watch programme on behalf of the UK and other five ESA Member States, Switzerland, Czechia, Spain, Greece and Romania.
Read more about ESA's TRUTHS mission
Launched in May 2024, ESA's Earth Explorer EarthCARE mission has already been delivering remarkable data. Its four instruments have brought us groundbreaking insights into clouds, aerosols and Earth's energy balance. The mission is being featured in an immersive installation called Hakuryu, which is Japanese for White Dragon, at the Living Planet Symposium in Vienna ?but the accompanying sonification is available for all to experience.
The installation is an audiovisual experience where artistic creation meets state-of-the-art science and satellite technology, weaving soundscapes, musical instruments and voices into a sonification of atmospheric data downloaded from the EarthCARE satellite.
The human voices are from groups affected by climate change, conflict and displacement. Hakuryu also invites contributions from notable voices such as key scientists, astronauts and members from the ESA and JAXA teams, combining their voices into a dragon's "song of care to the Earth.
The sonification is the work of Jamie Perera ? composer, sound artist and producer turned the satellite data into a sound experience, interwoven with meaning and messages about how we monitor and measure the effects of climate change.
Listen and enjoy: Hakuryu sonification
Read more about the link between EarthCARE and Hakuryu
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