MetOp-SG-A1 takes off, the most accurate meteorological satellite

The first second-generation European meteorological satellite, MetOp-SG-A1, the most accurate to date, was launched at 00:37 GMT aboard an Ariane 6 rocket from the Kourou spaceport in French Guiana, carrying the Copernicus Sentinel-5 mission. The mission is the result of the long-standing cooperation between the European Space Agency (ESA) and the European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites (Eumetsat).

MetOp-SG-A1 is set to become the most advanced satellite in predicting the increasingly frequent extreme weather events and in measuring air quality.

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Following its launch and commissioning, the mission will be fully operational within a year and will provide observations and measurements 24 hours a day from polar orbit, at an altitude of 832 kilometers.

Six Complementary Instruments

The mission carries six complementary instruments: a state-of-the-art infrared atmospheric sounder, a microwave sounder, a multispectral imaging radiometer, a novel multi-view, multi-channel, and multi-polarization imaging generator, a radio occultation sounder, and the Copernicus Sentinel-5 spectrometer from the European Commission. These are missions prepared to work in tandem to obtain better results, which will be operational for a minimum of 21 years, until the end of the 40s.