Sentinel-1D Delivers First SAR Images Following Successful Launch and Commissioning

The European Space Agency (ESA) formally released the inaugural high-resolution Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) imagery from the Copernicus Sentinel-1D satellite on November 26, 2025. This data presentation occurred during the ESA Ministerial Council meeting convened in Bremen, Germany, coinciding with the CM25 meeting where ministers from ESA's 23 Member States established the agency's strategic priorities and budget for the ensuing three years under the Strategy 2040 framework.

The initial radar captures provided views of critical global features, including glaciers within Antarctica, the landmass of Tierra del Fuego, and an image of the host city, Bremen. The Sentinel-1D platform, the fourth unit in the Sentinel-1 constellation, began its operational phase following a successful launch on November 4, 2025, from Europe's Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana, aboard an Ariane 6 launcher. After reaching its designated Sun-Synchronous Orbit at approximately 693 km altitude, the satellite, equipped with a 12-meter-long SAR instrument, commenced its commissioning sequence.

Data acquisition proceeded with notable speed, capturing initial imagery over the Antarctic Peninsula, Tierra del Fuego, and the Thwaites Glacier on the night of November 6, European time. Within six hours, on the morning of November 7, Sentinel-1D successfully imaged Bremen. This rapid sequence, culminating in data downlink to the Matera ground station in Italy, suggests the entire process from liftoff to initial data delivery was completed in under 50 hours, potentially setting a new record for a radar-based Earth observation satellite.

Sentinel-1D is engineered to operate alongside Sentinel-1C, which was placed into orbit in December 2024, ensuring a tight six-day revisit cycle necessary for comprehensive global coverage and tracking environmental changes. The new satellite is ultimately slated to replace Sentinel-1A, a unit launched in 2014 that had operated for 11 years beyond its planned mission duration. Both Sentinel-1C and Sentinel-1D also carry an Automatic Identification System (AIS) instrument to enhance maritime surveillance capabilities.

ESA's Director Simonetta Cheli noted the significance of this imagery, particularly as 2025 marks the United Nation's International Year of Glaciers' Preservation, emphasizing the data's role in monitoring the fragility of ice sheets like Thwaites Glacier. The freely accessible data supports essential functions such as land management, flood detection, and infrastructure monitoring, as the Sentinel-1 family can detect ground movement changes down to the millimeter level annually. The successful deployment and rapid data availability underscore the strategic importance of space assets, a central theme at the Bremen Ministerial Council, where member states, including Germany as the largest contributor (€5.1 billion), finalized a collective three-year budget of €22.1 billion.