04/09/2025
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The second of the Meteosat Third Technology Imagers, MTG-I2, has handed some essential milestones within the cleanroom amenities at Thales Alenia House in Cannes, southern France.
There isn’t a relaxation for the groups engaged on the MTG programme, which is able to present information for climate forecasting from geostationary orbit for the following 20 years. With two satellites now in orbit, eyes are already shifting to the following of the satellites because of launch: MTG-I2, which is able to full the primary household of MTG satellites.
On the cleanroom in France, the satellite tv for pc’s two devices – the Lightning Imager and the Versatile Mixed Imager – have been efficiently mounted on the satellite tv for pc platform. The satellite tv for pc then underwent a thermal vacuum check, which it handed with flying colors. This check ensures the satellite tv for pc can function completely even within the excessive temperatures of house, which, for satellites flying in a geostationary orbit, can vary between -180 ºC to +150 ºC, relying on whether or not the satellite tv for pc is in direct daylight or in Earth’s shadow.
Francesco Cainero, Lead House Phase engineer and accountable inside ESA for safeguarding the meeting, integration and testing of MTG-I2, mentioned, “These big temperature variations pose difficulties and dangers at each cold and hot plateaus throughout the testing of the survival thermal management; moreover, earlier than reaching the acute chilly testing section, there was the danger of corona discharge impacting the radio frequency gear – however due to the experience of all concerned this threat was simply mitigated.”
The milestone was comfortably reached thanks to shut cooperation between the groups at ESA, Thales Alenia House, Eumetsat and Leonardo. The groups have been capable of construct upon expertise throughout the thermal vacuum check marketing campaign for the primary MTG-Imager, which allowed this thermal check to be shortened as there was no want for demanding qualification testing this time.
When MTG-I2 launches subsequent yr, it is going to be a part of two MTG satellites already in orbit:
- The primary MTG-Imager, MTG-I1, was launched in December 2022.
- And the second satellite tv for pc within the sequence, the MTG-Sounder (MTG-S1) was launched in July this yr and continues to be in its commissioning section.
James Champion, ESA’s MTG Venture Supervisor, mentioned “We’re actually happy with progress on the MTG-I2 to date. Our industrial companions have labored very laborious to get thus far, and we’re wanting ahead to yet one more busy couple of years for the MTG challenge that may see the completion of the primary household of the MTG satellites in orbit – two MTG-Imagers and one MTG-Sounder – which is able to present invaluable meteorological information effectively into the following decade.”
As soon as this primary household nears its finish of life, all three satellites will likely be changed by three extra MTG satellites for the rest of the general mission’s lifetime.
The Lightning Imager devices on MTG’s two Imager satellites supply a totally new functionality for European meteorological satellites. They’ll be capable to constantly monitor greater than 80% of Earth’s seen floor from geostationary orbit for lightning discharges, going down both between clouds or between clouds and the bottom.
The MTG mission is a cooperation between Eumetsat and ESA. ESA is chargeable for creating and procuring the six MTG satellites. Eumetsat defines the system necessities, develops the bottom methods, procures the launch providers, operates the satellites, and makes the info accessible to customers. Thales Alenia House is the prime contractor for the general MTG programme and the MTG-I satellites in addition to the Versatile Mixed Imager instrument, and Leonardo was the provider of the Lightning Imager instrument.
What’s subsequent for MTG-I2?
The following step for MTG-I2 is the completion of the mechanical integration of the photo voltaic arrays in addition to the Information Assortment Service (DCS) and the Geostationary Search and Rescue (GEOSAR) instrument receivers and the Ka-band antenna, at which level the satellite tv for pc will likely be in its launch configuration – and prepared for extra testing.
Vibration testing will simulate the launch atmosphere and goals to substantiate the construct high quality of the general satellite tv for pc demonstrating that it’s going to survive the acute hundreds it is going to endure throughout the launch section.
There will likely be a closing sequence of checks, together with a System Validation Take a look at with the bottom section operator Eumetsat within the loop, earlier than the satellite tv for pc is readied for launch, deliberate in 2026.
