Latest MetOp Stories

Four of the instruments on the Metop-B weather satellite (AMSU-A, ASCAT, MHS, GRAS) have been activated this week and are delivering data. This demonstrates that Metop-B, launched on 17 September, is performing well and is on its way towards replacing the ageing Metop-A as prime operational satellite in polar orbit, after the six-month commissioning phase. The Advanced Scatterometer (ASCAT) and Microwave Humidity Sounder (MHS) are innovative European instruments. ASCAT delivers...

Yesterday, at 18:30 local time EUMETSAT took control of Metop-B operations, following the three-day Launch and Early Orbit Phase (LEOP) conducted by the European Space Operations Centre (ESOC) of the European Space Agency (ESA). The handover follows the launch of Metop-B on 17 September. Since Monday evening, teams at ESA’s European Space Operations Centre in Darmstadt, Germany, have been busy day and night during the Launch and Early Orbit Phase. As planned, they checked all of...

Lawrence LeBlond for redOrbit.com - Your Universe Online A European weather satellite was launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan today (Sept. 17) at 10:29 p.m. local time (12:29 p.m. EDT) aboard a Russian Soyuz 2.1a rocket, according to Russia’s space agency Roscosmos. The MetOp-B satellite will be used to acquire data critical for weather forecasters. The flight into orbit lasted just over an hour and went off without a hitch. MetOp-B will ensure there remains a...

As preparations for the launch of Europe’s latest weather satellite continue on track, the team in Kazakhstan has said farewell to MetOp-B as it was sealed in the Soyuz rocket fairing. Liftoff is set for 16:28 GMT (18:28 CEST) on Monday. Encapsulation is an important and somewhat emotional milestone on the road to launch as it is the last time MetOp-B will be seen. The launch campaign team has spent the last six weeks or so at the Baikonur Cosmodrome testing and preparing this...

Later this month, Europe’s newest meteorology satellite, MetOp-B, will blast into space from Baikonur Cosmodrome. For mission control teams at ESA, liftoff marks the start of 72 hours of intense focus during the mission’s critical launch and early orbit phase. MetOp-B is the second of three MetOp polar-orbiting satellites procured on behalf of Eumetsat, the European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites, by ESA from a European industrial consortium led by...

Satellite measurements show that nitrogen dioxide in the lower atmosphere over parts of Europe and the US has fallen over the past decade. More than 15 years of atmospheric observations have revealed trends in air quality. As the world’s population increases, economies in many countries are also growing and populations are concentrating in large cities. With the use of fossil fuels still on the rise, pollution in large cities is also increasing. Nitrogen dioxide is an important...

[ Watch the Video ] redOrbit Staff & Wire Reports - Your Universe Online The latest in a series of European Space Agency (ESA) geostationary meteorological satellites was successfully launched into space late last week, the organization has announced. In a July 6 press release, ESA officials confirmed the Thursday launch of an Ariane 5 rocket carrying the third Meteosat Second Generation (MSG-3) probe. The vehicle departed from a spaceport at the Guiana Space Centre in...

Lee Rannals for redOrbit.com - Your Universe Online The European Space Agency (ESA) announced a new launch date for its latest edition to its polar-orbiting satellite group, Metop. The new launch date is set for Metop-B satellite on September 19, 2012, when it will be lifting off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome. ESA said the satellite is being stored in a controlled environment in the Starsem facilities in Baikonur, and it will be subject to a set of tests and activities before its...

Eumetsat and the European Space Agency (ESA) have been informed by the launch service provider, Starsem, that the launch of the MetOp-B satellite by a Soyuz rocket, scheduled for 23 May from Baikonur, had to be postponed. This is due to additional measures required to ensure the availability of safe drop zones for parts of the launcher after lift-off. The launch has been postponed for some weeks, until appropriate measures are implemented. It is expected to take place in the second half of...

Europe’s next fleet of meteorological satellites is set to debut in 2017, following today’s signing of the development contract. While Meteosat Third Generation will ensure full continuity with the current Meteosat satellite family, it will also introduce significant improvements. At an event held today at ESA’s headquarters in Paris, the contract between ESA and Thales Alenia Space for developing the new Meteosat Third Generation (MTG) family of satellites was signed. Following...