Minimize Orbit

Sentinel-1 will be in a near-polar, sun-synchronous orbit with a 12 day repeat cycle and 175 orbits per cycle for a single satellite. Both Sentinel-1A and Senitnel-1B share the same orbit plane with a 180° orbital phasing difference. With both satellites operating, the repeat cycle is 6 days.

sentinel-1 constellation

Figure 1: SENTINEL-1 Constellation

In particular for interferometry, SENTINEL-1 requires stringent orbit control. Satellite positioning along the orbit must be accurate, with pointing and timing/synchronisation between interferometric pairs. Orbit positioning control for SENTINEL-1 is defined using an orbital Earth fixed "tube", 50 m (RMS) wide in radius, around a nominal operational path. The satellite is kept inside this "tube" for most of its operational lifetime.

Figure 2: SENTINEL-1 Orbit Tube

The following table contains a summary of useful orbital information for Sentinel-1A and –1B:





Ref. tube deviation

Local Time at Descending Node

693 km

98.18 deg

98.6 min

12 days

+- 100 m

18:00 hours