Our colleagues in Estec started the day with a “Sentinel-2C Launch event / Breakfast” – A big thank you to Valérie and Claudia for organizing and animating the event!

A bit later in Kourou, we held the CRAL (post-launch review) where the smooth execution of the countdown and excellent performances of the launcher were reported and acknowledged by all. The satellite injection was perfect. The acquisition of signal (satellite telemetry) was performed as expected over Troll ground station and revealed that the solar array was already deployed. We confirmed to the review board that the satellite operations had started in very good conditions.
At the end of the meeting, a lot of congratulations were exchanged between all the parties contributing to this success, with a visible satisfaction (and relief). There was also a lot of emotion as VV24 was the last (and a bit special) VEGA flight. That marks the end of the VEGA first generation (VEGA-C being the next), which already safely launched Sentinel-2A , – 2B , and now -2C.

At the end of the day in Kourou, we all met at the Launch Party and celebrated this success together as it should be!