Europe’s first MetOp Second Technology, MetOp-SG-A1, climate satellite tv for pc – which hosts the Copernicus Sentinel-5 mission – has launched aboard an Ariane 6 rocket from the European spaceport in French Guiana. The rocket lifted off on 13 August at 02:37 CEST (12 August 21:37 Kourou time).
MetOp-SG-A1 is the primary in a sequence of three successive pairs of satellites. The mission as a complete not solely ensures the continued supply of world observations from polar orbit for climate forecasting and local weather evaluation for greater than 20 years, but additionally gives enhanced accuracy and determination in comparison with the unique MetOp mission – together with new measurement capabilities to increase its scientific attain.
This new climate satellite tv for pc additionally carries the Copernicus Sentinel-5 mission to ship each day world knowledge on air pollution and atmospheric hint gases in addition to aerosols and ultraviolet radiation.
Ariane 6 is Europe’s heavy launcher and a key ingredient of ESA’s efforts to make sure autonomous entry to house for Europe’s residents. Ariane 6 has three phases: two or 4 boosters, and a major and higher stage. For this flight, VA264, the rocket was utilized in its two-booster configuration.