Watch Earth Recede as the Sentinal-1A Satellite Blasts Into Space

The Soyuz-FG rocket booster carrying a new crew to the International Space Station blasts off at Baikonur cosmodrome, Kazakhstan on March 26.

When the Sentinel-1A satellite blasted into space from the European Space Agency's Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana last week, it brought along a video camera.

Launched by the Soyuz Fregat rocket, the Sentinel-1A carries an advanced radar that scours Earth's surface, 24 hours a day, in all kinds of weather conditions, according to the European Space Agency's website. The satellite's mission is to help find and track oil spills, measure changing sea levels, monitor the decline of sea ice and more.

Released on Tuesday, the following video captures nearly four minutes of footage from takeoff to separation:

Sentinel-1A is part of a program called Copernicus, which the European Space Agency's website calls the "most ambitious Earth observation program to date." It aims to "provide accurate, timely and easily accessible information to improve the management of the environment, understand and mitigate the effects of climate change and ensure civil security."

Other Sentinel satellites with their own missions will follow shortly.

Sentinel-2's job will be to provide high-quality photos of Earth, and Sentinel-3 will supply data about oceans and land, according to the agency. The next two satellites, Sentinel-4 and Sentinel-5, will send information regarding the atmosphere's makeup, while Sentinel-6 will measure the global sea-surface height.

Sentinel-2A is scheduled to launch in April 2015.


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