The next Sentinel satellite for Europe's environmental monitoring Copernicus programme is poised for liftoff from the Plesetsk cosmodrome in northern Russia.

The Sentinel-3B satellite has been at the cosmodrome since mid-March being readied for its ride into space on 25 April at 17:57 GMT (19:57 CEST).

After being sealed from view in the rocket fairing last week, it was rolled out to the launch pad and hoisted into the launch tower at the weekend.