One of the most powerful European satellites, Sentinel-1B, still cannot be made to work

So one of the most powerful orbiting satellites created for observing the Earth had problems. So satellite Sentinel-1B, which is an integral part of the European Earth Observation Program called Copernicus, did not transfer a single kilobyte of data after December 23, 2021 he had a breakdown.

Attempts to revive the Sentinel-1B have so far been unsuccessful.

orbiting satellite Sentinel-1B was launched into space into polar orbit back in 2016, just two years after the launch of its twin Sentinel-1A. And in conjunction, these satellites perform continuous high-resolution radar mapping of the earth's surface.

And according to the calculations of engineers, this pair of satellites had to perform data collection for at least seven years, and each spacecraft had fuel for at least 12 years of operation.

But literally a week before the new year, namely December 23, 2021 year, an unknown failure occurred, as a result of which data from the satellite stopped coming to Earth.

Initially, the engineers believed that the problem lay in the software and tried to remotely restart the satellite's computer.

But, as it turned out, the failure of the program is not the root cause. Engineers assume that the primary source of all problems is the satellite's power system unit.

Now engineers are scratching their heads to find the root cause, and if they fail to do this, then the satellite will be completely lost. Of course, the loss of one satellite will not be a disaster.

After all, the constellation of satellites is not limited to just two, and if necessary, other spacecraft are able to do their job, and it is also planned to launch new satellites. But scientists will take all possible options to revive the satellite Sentinel-1B.

Well, let's see if the engineers will be able to return the satellite to service or whether it will replenish the cohort of space debris hanging around our planet.

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