The European Space Agency (ESA) successfully launched two satellites into orbit, improving the monitoring of extreme weather events linked to climate change, officials said.
The European Vega-C rocket carrying the Sentinel-3C and FLEX satellites lifted off from the Kourou Space Center in French Guiana at 10:21 p.m. Monday (1:21 a.m. GMT Tuesday), according to an AFP journalist on site.
The two satellites were placed into a sun-synchronous orbit about two hours after launch.
FLEX (Fluorescence Explorer) will provide data on the effects of heat waves on plants. It will monitor fluorescence, the red light emitted by plants during photosynthesis, the process by which they absorb carbon dioxide and convert it into energy for growth using water and light, while releasing oxygen into the atmosphere.
The second satellite, Sentinel-3C, part of the European Union's Copernicus Earth observation program, will measure marine environmental characteristics, including temperature, wave height, and ocean currents, as well as land use and land cover, with the aim of improving agricultural productivity and helping to prevent food crises.
Simonetta Shelley, director of Earth observation programs at the European Space Agency, speaking from Kourou, said that such missions are "essential" to help address "the climate change we are experiencing."
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