Europe’s All-new Weather Satellite Takes to the Skies | ESA

Europe’s All-new Weather Satellite Takes to the Skies | ESA

The first Meteosat Third Generation Imager (MTG-I1) satellite lifted off on an Ariane 5 rocket from Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana on December 13, 2022, at 21:30 CET.

From geostationary orbit, 36,000 km above the equator, this all-new weather satellite will provide state-of-the art observations of Earth’s atmosphere and realtime monitoring of lightning events, taking weather forecasting to the next level. The satellite carries two completely new instruments: Europe’s first Lightning Imager and a Flexible Combined Imager.

MTG-I1 is the first of six satellites that form the full MTG system, which will provide critical data for weather forecasting over the next 20 years. In full operations, the mission will comprise two MTG-I satellites and one MTG Sounding (MTG-S) satellites working in tandem.

This was Arianespace’s fourth launch of 2022.  The third Ariane 5 of the year placed its satellite passengers into geostationary transfer orbit (GTO). The launcher carried a total payload of approximately 10,972 kg.

Credit: European Space Agency (ESA)- M. Pedoussaut

Release Date: Dec. 13, 2022

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