The first of the Airbus-built MetOp-SG weather and climate monitoring satellites has left Toulouse cleanrooms and is now en-route for Kourou, French Guiana, on board the Canopée. The MetOp Second Generation-A1 satellite, built for the European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites (EUMETSAT), is expected to launch in August 2025 on board an Ariane 6 rocket.
MetOp-SG program
The MetOp-SG program consists of six satellites in total. The three successive pairs are made up of an A-type and a B-type satellite, which carry a host of different but complementary instruments. MetOp-SG A satellites have instruments for atmospheric sounding and imaging; and MetOp-SG B include instruments for microwave imaging and radar observations. They will ensure the continuity of critical MetOp series data into the mid-2040s.
The MetOp-SG A1 payload includes the Infrared Atmospheric Sounding Interferometer – Next Generation (IASI-NG), which will provide data for weather forecasting, pollution monitoring and climate research. The solution was developed in partnership between Airbus and the French space agency CNES.
It also includes METimage (a visible and infrared imager) developed in partnership with the German Space Agency (DLR), the microwave sounder (built by Airbus in Portsmouth in the UK), the radio occultation sounder, and the multi-viewing, multi-channel, multi-polarisation imager – an entirely new instrument designed to enhance the monitoring of aerosols and cloud properties.
The satellite also carries the Airbus-built Copernicus Sentinel-5 mission – the ultraviolet, visible, near-infrared and short-wave infrared sounder – which will deliver detailed measurements of atmospheric composition and trace gases.
Key partners
MetOp Second Generation satellites have been developed through partnerships between EUMETSAT and the European Space Agency (ESA), the European Union’s Copernicus program, the French space agency (CNES), DLR and an industrial consortium led by Airbus Defence and Space.
The A series satellites are being built by Airbus in Toulouse, France, while the B series are under construction in Friedrichshafen in southern Germany. The nominal operational lifetime of each MetOp-SG satellite is 7.5 years, ensuring full operational coverage over a 21-year period.
Ariane 6 is a program developed within the framework of the European Space Agency. As prime contractor and design authority for the launcher, ArianeGroup is responsible for development and production alongside its industrial partners. Arianespace, the launch service provider, will oversee launch operations from the Guiana Space Centre, including the integration and deployment of the MetOp-SG A1 satellite into orbit.
Marc Steckling, head of earth observation, science and space exploration at Airbus Defence and Space, said, “The MetOp Second Generation (SG) satellites will further enhance Europe’s leading position in meteorological analysis from space, and help deliver even more accurate weather forecasting to benefit everyone on Earth. Having designed and manufactured all three of the first generation MetOp satellites we are truly looking forward to the successful launch of the first in this vital series that will watch over our planet.”
In related news, NOAA’s GOES-19 satellite, the final satellite in its GOES-R Series, recently begun operations as GOES East. Read the full story here
