European Space Agency

Sentinel-2C was launched in September 2024 aboard the final Vega rocket and was intended to replace Sentinel-2A. However, ESA has now granted Sentinel-2A a one-year exceptional and temporary extension, which will begin in March.

“Sentinel-2A will not retire yet,” said Christoph Kautz, Director for Satellite Navigation and Earth Observation at DG DEFIS.

Preparations for Sentinel-2A’s mission extension began in January 2025, with manoeuvres initiated to reposition the satellite by early March 2025. With this new orbital configuration, the average revisit time of the Sentinel-2 constellation will be drastically reduced.