Last night, the first Metop-SG satellite was successfully launched from the European spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana. This advanced weather satellite, developed by the European Space Agency (ESA) in collaboration with the European organization for the development and management of weather satellites (EUMETSAT), will play an important role in making weather forecasts and mapping air pollution.

The Metop-SG satellite (Meteorological Operational satellite, Second Generation) was launched on an Ariane 6 rocket from the European space agency ESA in Kourou, French Guiana, where the European launch base is located. The rocket lifted off on August 13 at 02:37 CEST (August 12 at 21:37 in Kourou). The weather satellite is the successor to the current Metop satellites and offers significantly improved technologies for collecting atmospheric data.

More Accurate Weather Reports

The satellite provides highly detailed information about temperature and humidity at various altitudes in the atmosphere. This data is crucial for adjusting weather models, making predictions of storms and heavy precipitation more reliable.

Sentinel 5: Air Quality and Greenhouse Gases

In addition to improving weather forecasts, Metop-SG plays a key role in monitoring atmospheric composition, which is very important for air quality. Onboard is the Sentinel-5 instrument, which detects ozone, nitrogen dioxide, carbon monoxide, methane, and particulate matter, among others. This data is crucial for air quality forecasts and for determining the emissions of pollutants and greenhouse gases. Furthermore, the IASI-NG instrument will provide accurate information about multiple gases in the atmosphere, particularly ammonia, which plays a major role in nitrogen issues.

Wide Range of Measurements

Metop-SG orbits the Earth in a polar orbit, allowing it to observe every location on Earth twice a day. The system ultimately consists of two types of satellites (A and B, see image 1) that are launched every 7 years. The A satellite launched last night is equipped with six measuring instruments, which provide much information about clouds and particles in the air (aerosols), important for climate research. Together with the geostationary satellite MTG-S launched in July, which covers a fixed part of the Earth with greater frequency, Metop-SG provides a wide range of measurements that complement each other (image 2). The data is expected to be available in the course of 2026.