The Copernicus Sentinel-1 mission is the European “Radar Vision” for the Copernicus joint initiative of the European Commission (EC) and the European Space Agency (ESA). Copernicus, previously known as GMES, is a European initiative for the implementation of information services dealing with environment and security. It is based on observation data received from Earth Observation satellites and ground-based information.

The Airbus Defence and Space built Sentinel-1 SAR instrument with its all-weather, day-and-night imaging capability and its short revisit time has greatly enhanced the amount of valuable data available to users. Data is routinely and systematically provided for maritime and land monitoring, emergency response, climate change and security purposes.