MTG-I2 reaches its remaining orbit

Simply 12 days after launch from Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana on board an Ariane 6 rocket, the satellite tv for pc has accomplished the primary section of its journey in house, often known as launch and early orbit section, or LEOP. It joins its two sister satellites in orbit, marking a serious milestone for Europe’s subsequent technology of climate satellites and finishing the primary household of MTG satellites.

Since MTG-I2 separated from its Ariane 6 launcher, the satellite tv for pc has been rigorously guided into its remaining geostationary orbit. It joins the primary imager, MTG-I1, launched in 2022, and the primary sounder, MTG-S1, launched in 2025.

The mission’s mixed observations will considerably enhance the standard, amount and frequency of climate and environmental information obtainable to European customers, supporting improved climate forecasting, severe-weather nowcasting, numerical climate prediction and local weather monitoring throughout Europe and North Africa.

ESA’s Director of Earth Commentary Programmes, Simonetta Cheli, stated, “This can be a key milestone for a mission of nice significance for Europe – one that may make an actual distinction to how we’re capable of put together for and reply to excessive climate occasions. I look ahead to seeing the finished household of MTG satellites offering operational information that may enhance resilience for communities. My thanks go to the groups which have labored laborious on every section of the mission, reaching this unbelievable outcome.”

Developed by shut collaboration between ESA and Eumetsat, with a global industrial consortium led by Thales Alenia Area in cooperation with OHB and Leonardo, the primary MTG constellation is a serious demonstration of European cooperation, experience and ambition. The total constellation shall be operated by Eumetsat all through its lifetime.

Orbital manoeuvres

After liftoff, communication was established by the Malindi floor station in Kenya, the satellite tv for pc’s propulsion system was began, and its photo voltaic arrays have been deployed, making certain that the satellite tv for pc is ready to generate its personal energy. ESA’s MTG Satellites Commissioning and Operations Supervisor, Alex Palacios, stated, “Seeing the photo voltaic arrays deploy efficiently was a very nice second, once we knew the mission is secure, though it’s solely the start of an amazing quantity of labor. As anticipated for such a fancy spacecraft, there have been small deviations from predictions, however specialists supporting the LEOP marketing campaign have been capable of clarify them rapidly and ensure that the satellite tv for pc was behaving as anticipated.”

From its point of separation, MTG-I2 still had to increase its distance from Earth by more than 35 000 km in altitude – almost one tenth of the distance from Earth to the Moon. The LEOP team therefore carried out a series of orbital manoeuvres, including a series of burns of the satellite’s Liquid Apogee Engine (LAE). The final manoeuvres had to be exceptionally precise to position the satellite in its final geostationary orbit at 3.5°E longitude.

Carl Todd, ESA’s MTG System Software Engineer and leader of one of the three LEOP project support teams, noted “Everyone holds their breath, and when the first manoeuvre is completed successfully, it’s a great shared moment. But the final LAE firing is incredible from a technical point of view. After all the work that has gone into the previous manoeuvres, you have very precise control over where the satellite is going.”

Preparing for its mission

While the orbital manoeuvres were taking place, the spacecraft was progressively configured for its mission. This included deployment of the satellite’s antennas: a Ka-band transmission antenna and the antenna supporting the Data Collection System (DCS) and Geostationary Search and Rescue (GEOSAR) services.

The satellite was then pointed towards Earth. Although technically less demanding than the preceding orbital manoeuvres, this was a highly significant moment: it marked the final step of LEOP and prepared the spacecraft for its next phase.

Supporting LEOP

The LEOP is one of the most critical phases of satellite operations. MTG-I2’s LEOP was assisted by a team of 40 people based in the Telespazio Mission Control Centre in Fucino, with experts from Thales Alenia Space, OHB and ESA, supporting Telespazio and Eumetsat. Specialists in areas including flight dynamics, propulsion, attitude and orbit control, system and operations engineering and other disciplines worked in shifts, providing continuous support throughout the mission.

Emilia Barbagallo, ESA’s MTG Lead Operations Interface Engineer and leader of the MTG-I2 Project Support Team, explained that during this LEOP, many of the most critical operations took place at night. “The whole team worked long and hard, preparing predictions before the LAE firings, analysing the results immediately afterwards and closely monitoring the spacecraft between manoeuvres, ready to investigate and respond if anything appeared out of the ordinary. These highly sensitive analyses required exceptional concentration.”

What next for MTG?

On Tuesday, 8 September, MTG-I2 was formally handed over to Eumetsat to begin its commissioning phase. The commissioning team will now travel directly to Eumetsat’s control centre in Darmstadt, where they will activate and check the spacecraft and its instruments and prepare the satellite for operational service.

“No rest for the MTG team just yet,” said Alex Palacios. “We want to get commissioning started as soon as possible, so that MTG-I2 can begin generating data for European users and we can have this first MTG constellation fully operational.”