Ready for launch: the first of the MetOp-SG meteorological and climate satellites built by Airbus left the clean rooms in Toulouse a few days ago and is now en route to the spaceport of Kourou, French Guiana, aboard the transport ship "Canopée". The MetOp second-generation satellite A1, built for Eumetsat (European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites), is scheduled to be launched in August 2025 aboard an Ariane 6 rocket.

The MetOp-SG program consists of six satellites: three consecutive pairs formed by one satellite of type A and one of type B, carrying a variety of different but complementary instruments. The MetOp-SG A satellites are equipped with instruments for atmospheric sounding and imaging, while the MetOp-SG B satellites include microwave imaging and radar observation instruments. They will ensure continuity of critical data from the MetOp series until the mid-2040s.

The payload of MetOp-SG A1 includes the next-generation Infrared Atmospheric Sounding Interferometer (Iasi-Ng), which will provide vital data for weather forecasting, pollution monitoring, and climate research, developed jointly by Airbus and the French space agency CNES. The satellite is also equipped with METimage (a visible and infrared imaging sensor) developed in collaboration with the German Aerospace Center (DLR), the Microwave Sounder (built by Airbus in Portsmouth, UK), the Radio Occultation Sounder, and the Multi-Viewing, Multi-Channel, Multi-Polarisation Imager, a completely new instrument designed to improve aerosol and cloud property monitoring.

The satellite also carries the Copernicus Sentinel-5 mission, built by Airbus, which will provide detailed measurements of atmospheric composition and trace gases. The second-generation MetOp 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, the German Aerospace Center (DLR), and an industrial consortium led by Airbus Defence and Space.

The satellites of the A series are being built at Airbus in Toulouse, France, while those of the B series are under construction at Airbus in Friedrichshafen, southern Germany. The nominal operational lifetime of each MetOp-SG satellite is 7.5 years, ensuring full operational coverage for a period of 21 years. Ariane 6 is a program developed under the European Space Agency. As the prime contractor and launcher design authority, ArianeGroup is responsible for development and production alongside its industrial partners. Arianespace, the launch services provider, will oversee the launch operations from the Guiana Space Centre, including integration and deployment into orbit of the MetOp-SG A1 satellite.