This video captures a surprising view of Sentinel-3A on its way into orbit amidst the flickering green of the northern lights. The footage, which was taken from Karigasniemi in northern Finland, shows Sentinel-3A’s rocket and either what could be the jettisoned first or second stage of the rocket following behind. Sentinel-3A was launched from Plesetsk in Russia 1000 km away at 17:57 GMT (18:57 CET) on 16 February 2016. This footage was taken from a hilltop (N69°24.0′ E25°51.0′ ) about six minutes after liftoff. Carrying a suit of cutting-edge instruments, Sentinel-3A will measure Earth’s oceans, land, ice and atmosphere for Europe’s Copernicus programme.