EUMETSAT & ESA & Dual Meteosats Now All On The Same Dance Card

The Director-General of EUMETSAT, Dr. Lars Prahm, and the Director of Operations and Infrastructure of the European Space Agency (ESA), Gaele Winters, have signed the contract for the Launch and Early Orbit Phase (LEOP) service for the last two Meteosat Second Generation (MSG) satellites. They are the MSG-3 and MSG-4, both to be provided by ESA’s European Satellite Operations Centre (ESOC). LEOP involves moving the satellite from its initial position after separation from the launcher to its final orbit position 36,000 kilometers above the Earth. The contract, worth more than four million euros in total, also covers the specific setup of the LEOP service ground segment for MSG. MSG satellites are spin-stabilized in geostationary orbit and perform full-disc scans of the Earth just as did their predecessor satellites. However, MSG’s 12 spectral channels, or “eyes,” and a repeat cycle of only 15 minutes mean MSG satellites can provide 20 times the information of firstgen geostationary satellites.




MSG-3 and MSG-4 are scheduled for launch in January 2011 and January 2013, respectively. Preparation for the launch of these satellites will start approximately two years before the planned launch dates. The launch dates are not definite as they depend on the in-orbit status of the satellites and their missions. The first MSG satellite, which was renamed Meteosat-8, was launched in August 2002 and became operational in January 2004 and offered faster service with better images and data to European forecasters and other users. Each of the satellite’s 12 channels offers a different perspective of the Earth and different combinations of channels can be used to create advanced meteorological products.




EUMETSAT is an international organization, founded in 1986, that delivers weather and climate-related satellite data, images and products 24×365 with the information supplied to the National Meteorological Services of the organization’s 20 Member and 10 Cooperating States in Europe.