Sentinel-3C

Sentinel-3C
	Vector drawing of the Sentinel-3
Mission type	Earth observation
Operator	ESA · EUMETSAT
SATCAT no.	100689
Website	Sentinel-3 (ESA)
Mission duration	Planned: 7 years
Spacecraft properties
Spacecraft type	Sentinel-3
Bus	Prima
Manufacturer	Thales Alenia Space
Launch mass	1,250 kg (2,756 lb)
Dry mass	1,150 kg (2,535 lb)
Dimensions	3.9 × 2.2 × 2.2 m (12.8 × 7.2 × 7.2 ft)
Power	2,300 watts
Start of mission
Launch date	15 September 2026
Rocket	Vega-C
Launch site	Kourou, ELV
Contractor	Avio
Orbital parameters
Reference system	Geocentric
Regime	Sun-synchronous
Transponders
Band	S band (TT&C support) ; X band (science data)
Bandwidth	S band: 64 kbit/s uplink, 1 Mbit/s downlink ; X band: 2 × 280 Mbit/s
OLCI
Instruments
OLCI	Ocean and Land Colour Instrument
SLSTR	Sea and Land Surface Temperature Radiometer
SRAL	Synthetic Aperture Radar Altimeter
MWR	Microwave Radiometer
DORIS	Doppler Orbitography and Radiopositioning Integrated by Satellite
LRR	Laser Retro-Reflector
GNSS	Global Navigation Satellite System
	Sentinel-3 ← Sentinel-3B Sentinel-3D → Sentinel ← Sentinel-6B CO2M-A (Sentinel-7A) →

Sentinel-3C is a European Earth observation satellite dedicated to oceanography, launched on 15 September 2026.^[3] It is part of the European Union's Copernicus Programme, and the third of four planned Sentinel-3 satellites (after Sentinel-3B, launched in 2018).^[4]^[5]^[6]^[7]^[8]^[9] The satellite's prime contractor is Thales Alenia Space.^[10]

Gallery

The Copernicus Sentinel-3C and FLEX satellite are launched together aboard a Vega-C rocket from Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana 15 September 2026.

References

1 2 "Copernicus: Sentinel-3". eoPortal. European Space Agency. Retrieved 25 April 2018.
1 2 "Satellite: Sentinel-3B". World Meteorological Organization. Archived from the original on 18 February 2018. Retrieved 25 April 2018.
↑ "FLEX and Sentinel-3C launched". www.esa.int. Retrieved 15 September 2026.
↑ "Sentinel 3A, 3B, 3C, 3D". Gunter's Space Page. Retrieved 19 October 2025.
↑ "Sentinel-3C | Vega C | Next Spaceflight". nextspaceflight.com. Retrieved 19 October 2025.
↑ "Sentinel-3". www.esa.int. Retrieved 19 October 2025.
↑ "Facts and figures". www.esa.int. Retrieved 19 October 2025.
↑ "Search". www.esa.int. Retrieved 19 October 2025.
↑ "Launches secured for five Sentinel satellites". www.esa.int. Retrieved 19 October 2025.
↑ "Thales Alenia Space: awarded a contract by ESA to build Sentinel-3C and D satellites". www.leonardo.com. Retrieved 22 August 2026.

External links

Sentinel-3 program website by ESA
Sentinel-3 website by the Copernicus Programme
Real-time orbital tracking - uphere.space
Sentinel-3C and Sentinel-3D side by side

[eoportal-1] 1 2 "Copernicus: Sentinel-3". eoPortal. European Space Agency. Retrieved 25 April 2018.

[wmo-sat-2] 1 2 "Satellite: Sentinel-3B". World Meteorological Organization. Archived from the original on 18 February 2018. Retrieved 25 April 2018.

[3] "FLEX and Sentinel-3C launched". www.esa.int. Retrieved 15 September 2026.

[4] "Sentinel 3A, 3B, 3C, 3D". Gunter's Space Page. Retrieved 19 October 2025.

[5] "Sentinel-3C | Vega C | Next Spaceflight". nextspaceflight.com. Retrieved 19 October 2025.

[6] "Sentinel-3". www.esa.int. Retrieved 19 October 2025.

[7] "Facts and figures". www.esa.int. Retrieved 19 October 2025.

[8] "Search". www.esa.int. Retrieved 19 October 2025.

[9] "Launches secured for five Sentinel satellites". www.esa.int. Retrieved 19 October 2025.

[10] "Thales Alenia Space: awarded a contract by ESA to build Sentinel-3C and D satellites". www.leonardo.com. Retrieved 22 August 2026.

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v t e ← 2025 Orbital launches in 2026 2027 →
January	CSG-3 Starlink G6-88 (29 satellites) Starlink G6-96 (29 satellites) Twilight (Pandora, SPARCS, BlackCAT, Hydra-2, ICEYE X63, X64, etc.) PSLV-C62 (EOS-N1, KID, etc.)† Starlink G6-97 (29 satellites) Yaogan-50 01 SatNet LEO Group 18 (9 satellites) Starlink G6-98 (29 satellites) Alsat-3A Ceres-1S Y7 (Tianqi 37, 38, 39, 40) Shijian-32† Ceres-2† NROL-105 Starlink G6-100 (29 satellites) SatNet LEO Group 19 (9 satellites) Starlink G17-30 (25 satellites) "The Cosmos Will See You Now" (2 Open Cosmos satellites) Starlink G17-20 (25 satellites) GPS-III 09 Ellison Onizuka Starlink G17-19 (25 satellites) Neonsat-1A Starlink G6-101 (29 satellites) Alsat-3B
February	Starlink G17-32 (25 satellites) Kosmos 2600-2608 Chinese reusable experimental spacecraft Starlink G17-33 (25 satellites) Starlink G17-34 (25 satellites) Jielong 3 (PRSC-EO2, 6 satellites) Elektro-L №5 USSF-87 (GSSAP-7 & 8) Amazon Leo LE-01 (32 satellites) Crew-12 Starlink G17-13 (24 satellites) Starlink G6-103 (29 satellites) Starlink G10-36 (29 satellites) Starlink G17-25 (25 satellites) Starlink G6-104 (28 satellites) Starlink G6-110 (29 satellites) Starlink G17-26 (25 satellites) Starlink G6-108 (29 satellites)
March	Starlink G17-23 (25 satellites) Starlink G10-41 (29 satellites) Starlink G10-40 (29 satellites) KAIROS F3† BlackSky Global 34 Starlink G17-18 (25 satellites) EchoStar XXV Alpha Block 1 FLTA007 Guowang (9 satellites) Shiyan 30C, D Starlink G17-31 (25 satellites) Starlink G10-48 (29 satellites) Yaogan 50-02 Kuaizhou 11 Y7 Starlink G17-24 (25 satellites) Starlink G10-46 (29 satellites) Starlink G10-33 (29 satellites) StriX-6 Starlink G17-15 (25 satellites) Progress MS-33 Starlink G10-62 (29 satellites) Jielong 3 Y10 Rassvet Flight 3 (16 satellites) SuperView Neo-2 05, 06 Starlink G17-17 (25 satellites) Shiyan-33 Celeste IOD-1, IOD-2 Kinetica 2 (Qingzhou) Transporter-16 (Acadia-10, BRO 19, ERMIS, GARAI B, ION SCV Astounding Alexandra, IRIDE-MS1-EAGLET2 9-16, OptiSat, PeakSat, Vigoride-7, VIREON 1 & 2, W-Series 6, etc.)
April	Artemis II Tacheles ATENEA K-RadCube SWC-1 Starlink G10-58 (29 satellites) Tianlong-3† Meridian-M №11 Amazon Leo LA-05 (29 satellites) Starlink G17-35 (25 satellites) Minotaur IV (STPSat-7 & 10 rideshares) Qianfan (18 satellites) Guowang (5 satellites) Starlink G17-21 (25 satellites) Jielong 3 Y11 Cygnus NG-24 Kinetica 1 Y12 (8 satellites) Starlink G10-24 (29 satellites) Starlink G17-27 (25 satellites) Kosmos 2609-2616 Daqi-2 BlueBird 7† Starlink G17-22 (25 satellites) GPS III-10 Hedy Lamarr "Kakushin Rising" (9 satellites) Starlink G17-14 (25 satellites) Kosmos 2617-2620 Hulianwang Jishu Shiyan 9A-D PRSC-EO3 Progress MS-34 Starlink G17-16 (25 satellites) Amazon Leo LA-06 (29 satellites) ViaSat-3 F3 APAC Amazon Leo LE-02 (32 satellites)
May	Starlink G10-38 (29 satellites) CAS500-2 (EarthDaily × 6, Eycore-1, ICEYE-X78, X82, IRIDE-MS2-HEO 7, 10-15, Pelican-7-9, Balkan-2, BRO 21, Hellenic Fire System/FOREST-16-19, FrontierSat, Hellenic Space Dawn, Hydra-3, RAVEN, QUBE-II, etc.) Starlink G17-29 (24 satellites) Tianzhou 10 NROL-172 SpaceSail Polar Group 8 (18 satellites) Zhuque-2E Y4 Kinetica 1 Y13 (5 satellites) SpaceX CRS-34 SpaceSail Polar Group 9 (18 satellites) SMILE Starlink G17-42 (24 satellites) Starlink G10-31 (29 satellites) "Viva La StriX"/StriX-7 Starship flight test 12 Shenzhou 23 Starlink G10-47 (29 satellites) 7A-Y12/TJS-24 Starlink G10-53 (29 satellites) Amazon Leo LA-07 (29 satellites) Starlink G17-41 (24 satellites) SatNet LEO test (4 satellites)
June	SpaceSail Polar Group 10 (2 satellites) Starlink G17-47 (24 satellites) Starlink G10-43 (29 satellites) SpaceSail Polar Group 11 (18 satellites) SpaceSail Polar Group 12 (18 satellites) Starlink G17-43 (23 satellites) Starlink G10-35 (29 satellites) Zhuque-2E Y6 TJS-25 HASTE CURVEBALL Starlink G17-43 (24 satellites) H3-30S F6 (PETREL, BRO-22, etc.) Starlink G10-54 (29 satellites) Jilin-1 (8 satellites) Starlink G17-54 (24 satellites) Shijian-31 Guowang (9 satellites) Kuaizhou 11 Y13 BlueBird 8-10 Amazon Leo LE-03 (36 satellites) NROL-179 VICTUS HAZE Puma Starlink G17-28 (24 satellites) TJS-26A Starfall Demo Starlink G17-45 (24 satellites) "Ten Owl Of Ten" Starlink G17-40 (24 satellites) SXM-11
July	Haiyang 2E Starlink G17-46 (24 satellites) Amazon Leo LA-08 (29 satellites) Swift boost mission SpaceSail Polar Group 13 (18 satellites) Starlink G10-50 (29 satellites) SpaceSail Polar Group 14 (20 satellites) Transporter-17 (CAS500-4, ICEYE-X77, 79, 80, 81, PIRX-1, CyberCUBE, KOSTKA, Balkan-3, FOSSAST2E-26, BRO 31, MARINA, Lemur-2 × 5, Hyperion GR 1, Posidònia, etc.) Starlink G10-42 (29 satellites) CZ-10B X1 Starlink G17-48 (24 satellites) Starlink G15-14 (27 satellites) Starlink G10-45 (29 satellites) Soyuz MS-29 SDA Tranche 1 Transport Layer E (21 satellites) Vikram-1 Aagaman Rassvet-3 (16 satellites) Starlink G17-39 (24 satellites) MRV-1 Gravity-1 Y4 (9 satellites) Tianlian II-06 Kinetica 1 Y15 (5 satellites) Starlink G17-51 (24 satellites) Tianlian III-01 TJS 27A-B NROL-95
August	Starlink G17-52 (24 satellites) SatNet LEO Group 23 (9 satellites) Starlink G17-53 (24 satellites) Jielong 3 Y12 (2 satellites) BlueBird 11 to 13 QPS-SAR-13 Starlink G17-38 (24 satellites) ChinaSat 4B† Michibiki 7 Starlink G10-19 (29 satellites) Starlink G17-49 (24 satellites) USSF-366 Globalstar-2R (8 satellites) SatNet LEO Group 24 (9 satellites) Satellite for Earth Observation (SEO) Zhuque-3 Y2 Starlink G17-50 (24 satellites) QPS-SAR-18 Starlink G10-39 (29 satellites) Starlink G15-20 (27 satellites) Glonass-K1 n°19L Long March 6C Y1 (7 satellites) Starlink G10-49 (29 satellites) Starlink G15-22 (27 satellites) MTG-I2/Meteosat-14 Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope
September	Pallas-1 demo flight Starlink G15-23 (27 satellites) StriX-9 EOS-05 Spectrum "Onward and Upward" (CyBEEsat, FramSat-1, Platform 6, SpaceTeamSat1, TriSat-S) Starlink G15-24 (27 satellites) Yaogan (6 satellites) USSF-153 Electron "Happily Ever Faster" O3b mPOWER 11, 12, 13 Sentinel-3C, FLEX SpaceSail Polar Group 15 (10 satellites) SpaceSail Polar Group 16 (9 satellites) Progress MS-35
Launches are separated by dots ( • ), payloads by commas ( , ), multiple names for the same satellite by slashes ( / ). Crewed flights are underlined. Launch failures are marked with the † sign. Payloads deployed from other spacecraft are (enclosed in parentheses).

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Sentinel-3C

Gallery

See also

References

External links