The Sentinel-6A earth observation satellite has been blasted with sound to simulate the noise of a rocket launch.
Airbus engineers bombarded the satellite for the Copernicus environment and security program with sound in a dedicated chamber at the Space Test Centre of Industrieanlagen-Betriebsgesellschaft in Ottobrunn near Munich, Germany.
Tests at the chamber consist of four 60-second blasts of sound fired at the satellite with increasing intensity, peaking at 140 decibels.
Copernicus Sentinel-6 is an ocean altimetry mission to provide topography measurements over the next decade.
Its radar altimeter observes sea surface height on a global scale, which is essential for monitoring sea level changes.
Sentinel-6 will map up to 95% of Earth’s ice-free ocean every 10 days, offering vital information on ocean currents, windspeed and wave height.
Airbus has developed two Sentinel-6 satellites for the European Copernicus Programme through an international cooperation with the European Union, alongside the ESA, NASA, NOAA and EUMETSAT.
Sentinel-6A will collect data from November 2020 and be joined by Sentinel-6B in 2025.