During the annual press conference, the Director General of the European Space Agency (ESA), Josef Aschbacher, raised the issue of repairing the Sentinel-1B radar satellite. According to him, the investigation of anomalies in the operation of the spacecraft continues, the thermal control system of the spacecraft is operating normally, maneuvers are regularly carried out to control the orbit. But it has not yet been possible to activate the satellite's power system unit.

Sentinel-1B was launched in 2016, two years after its twin Sentinel-1A. On December 23, 2021, data transmission from Sentinel-1B to Earth ceased and the ESA launched an investigation into the incident. After carrying out several operations on January 10, engineers found that the problem was caused by malfunctions in the power system unit, the operation of which has not yet been restored. January 17 ESA announced the continuation of the investigation into the causes of the failure of the satellite. Additional attempts were made to restore the operation of the unit, but they were unsuccessful. The remaining elements of the satellite are operating normally.

Aschbacher also mentioned that the Sentinel-1C and Sentinel-1D satellites are under active development. The preliminary launch date for Sentinel-1C is set for October 2022.

Sentinel-1B occupies an important place in scientific research. The data he received (as well as from the Sentinel-1A satellite) are published in the public domain. They can be downloaded and analyzed on platforms such as Copernicus Open Data Hub, Sentinel EO Browser and Google Earth Engine.

Satellites provide researchers with data for emergency response, marine and aquatic monitoring (even floods), land cover analysis, agricultural assistance, forest fire assessment and urban planning, and more. For example, on January 16, an image of the Tonga volcano after a devastating eruption was received from the Sentinel-1A satellite. Experts compared it with an earlier image from January 3.

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