Five years after the launch of Sentinel-6 ‘Michael Freilich’, mission control team at ESA’s European Space Operations Centre (ESOC) are getting ready for the launch of Sentinel-6B, Europe’s latest sea-level monitoring satellite.
Started on 2 September, the ‘simulation campaign’ is designed to test the mission control team’s ability to take the satellite through the ‘Launch and Early Orbit Phase’ (LEOP), identify and solve potential issues, adapt the mission timeline, and operate under stress.
Augmented by engineers and scientists from ESA, partners and industry, this ‘team of teams’ counts over one hundred people and features experts from the satellite’s manufacturer, as well as specialists of every domain: satellite operations, ground segment, flight dynamics, software, networks, and more.
Currently scheduled for launch at the end of the year, Sentinel-6B will be taken in space by a Falcon 9 rocket from the Vandenberg Space Force Base in California.
Learn more about the simulations campaign at ESOC.