Europe launches two climate observation satellites

The European Space Agency has put two satellites into orbit to take a closer look at the impact of climate change. One of them will focus particularly on plant life.

https://p.dw.com/p/5MbPV The two satellites were carried by a Vega-C rocket, seen here lifting off in French Guiana Advertisement Two satellites designed to enhance the monitoring of extreme weather events linked to climate change have been successfully sent into orbit by the European Space Agency (ESA).

The 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 (0121 GMT Tuesday), with the two spacecraft entering sun-synchronous orbit within two hours of lift-off.

The Flex (Fluorescence Explorer) satellite aims to provide data on the impact of heat waves on plant matter by monitoring the very faint fluorescence emitted by plants when they carry out photosynthesis.