Question

Given below are two statements, one is labelled as Assertion (A) and other one labelled as Reason (R).
Assertion (A) : Sentinel satellite mission is one of the European Space Agency's next-generation earth-observation missions.
Reason (R) : There are six Sentinel satellites which provide free data to the user.
In light of the above statements, choose the most appropriate answer from the options given below.

• A. Both (A) and (R) are true and (R) is the correct explanation of (A).
• B. Both (A) and (R) are true but (R) is NOT the correct explanation of (A).
• C. (A) is correct but (R) is not correct.
• D. (A) is not correct but (R) is correct.

Hint:

Sentinel-2 is one of the most widely used satellite missions in agricultural remote sensing, as its multispectral bands (including red-edge bands) are excellent for monitoring crop health, chlorophyll content, and soil moisture.

Answer 1

The Correct Option is C

Step 1: Understanding the Concept:
The Sentinel missions are a family of next-generation Earth-observation satellite constellations developed by the European Space Agency (ESA) under the Copernicus programme.
These satellites provide high-resolution spatial and spectral data for environmental monitoring and agricultural analysis.

Step 3: Detailed Explanation:
Let us evaluate both statements individually:
- Assertion (A): This statement is correct.
The Sentinel missions are indeed a flagship, next-generation Earth-observation program designed and managed by the ESA to support environmental monitoring, climate change studies, and civil security.
- Reason (R): This statement is incorrect.
The Copernicus Sentinel program is organized into different mission categories (Sentinel-1, Sentinel-2, Sentinel-3, Sentinel-4, Sentinel-5P, and Sentinel-6), rather than simply consisting of "six individual satellites."
Most of these missions are designed as constellations of at least two operational satellites (e.g., Sentinel-1A and 1B, Sentinel-2A and 2B, etc.) to optimize global coverage and revisit times.
Currently, there are far more than six active Sentinel satellites in orbit.
Therefore, the assertion is correct, but the reason contains an incorrect factual claim about the total number of satellites.

Step 4: Final Answer:
The correct option is (C) as (A) is correct but (R) is not correct.