Europe launches fifth Sentinel satellite to picture Planet EarthMarch 7, 2017 - 12:15 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - Europe launched the fifth of its Sentinel Earth observation satellites on Monday, March 6 as part of its multi-billion-euro Copernicus program to provide speedy images of land, oceans and waterways, Reuters reports. The Sentinel-2B satellite, part of a system of satellites that is to monitor Earth, blasted off on board a Vega rocket from Europe's spaceport in French Guiana at 8:49 p.m. EST (0149 GMT on Tuesday). It will join its twin Sentinel-2A, which has been in orbit since 2015, to take high-resolution, color and infrared images for a wide array of environmental initiatives, including crop forecasting and monitoring natural disasters. The two satellites will orbit 488 miles (786 km) above Earth, on opposite sides of the planet. Together, they will be able to cover all of Earth's land surfaces, large islands, inland and coastal waterways every five days, providing more up-to-date images and at higher resolution than have been available. The Copernicus project is described by the European Space Agency (ESA) as the most ambitious Earth observation program to date. The European Union and the ESA have committed funding of more than 8 billion euros ($9 billion) to it until 2020. The launch of the Copernicus project became especially urgent after Europe lost contact with its Earth observation satellite Envisat in 2012 after 10 years. Top stories Authorities said a total of 192 Azerbaijani troops were killed and 511 were wounded during Azerbaijan’s offensive. In 2023, the Azerbaijani government will increase the country’s defense budget by more than 1.1 billion manats ($650 million). The bill, published on Monday, is designed to "eliminate the shortcomings of an unreasonably broad interpretation of the key concept of "compatriot". The earthquake caused a temporary blackout, damaged many buildings and closed a number of rural roads. Partner news | Biden honors resilience of Armenian people on April 24 U.S. President Joe Biden has issued a statement on the 109th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide. Ex-Karabakh leader moved to solitary confinement cell in Baku, his son says David Vardanyan is the son of former Karabakh leader Ruben Vardanyan who who is currently imprisoned in Azerbaijan. Macron says France commemorates 109th anniv. of Armenian genocide Today France commemorates the 109th anniversary of the Armenian genocide of 1915, Macron says. Freedom House concerned by mounting reports of police violence in Armenia Freedom House urged Armenian authorities to investigate this pattern of excessive force and inhumane treatment. |