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Feature story

Another second-generation Meteosat weather satellite is booked for launch on Ariane

December 17, 2003

Arianespace's contract to orbit the MSG 3 satellite in 2009 extends its service to the international community responsible for monitoring weather and the global climate.

Arianespace CEO Jean-Yves Le Gall (left) and Tillmann Mohr, Director General of Eumetsat, during the MSG 3 contract signing.

The contract was inked today by Arianespace Chief Executive Officer Jean-Yves Le Gall and Tillmann Mohr, Director General of Eumetsat, during a meeting at the European Space Agency's headquarters in Paris.

MSG 3 is part of the Meteosat Second Generation (MSG) series of metrological spacecraft developed by European industry and operated by the Eumetsat intergovernmental organization.

The spin-stabilized MSG 3 will be the ninth satellite entrusted by Eumetsat to the Ariane launcher family. Ariane vehicles orbited seven the first-generation Meteosat satellites, and the initial second-generation Meteosat spacecraft (MSG 1) was orbited by Arianespace in August 2002. Arianespace's current orderbook already includes the MSG 2 satellite, which is slated for launch in the first quarter of 2005.

The MSG satellites respond to advancements in operational meteorology and technology that have occurred since the initial Meteosat spacecraft were designed in the 1970s. As a result of these advancements, there is a need for more frequent and comprehensive data from the armada of spacecraft that constantly gather weather information in space.

The initial MSG satellite was launched by Ariane in August 2002, and is producing images such as this one.

Improvements to the Meteosat Second Generation-series satellites from the initial Meteosat spacecraft include the use of 12 spectral channels for more precise atmospheric data (compared to three on the earlier platforms); a 15-minute cycling of images (doubling the rate) for improved accuracy in forecasting severe weather such as thunderstorms, heavy rain, snow or fog; and improved horizontal image resolution for the visible light spectral channel (1 km as opposed to 2.5 km on the previous Meteosats), which also will greatly aid weather forecasters in detecting and predicting the onset or cessation of severe weather.

Production of the MSG satellites is handled by a European industrial consortium led by Alcatel Space Industries of France, which carries out the activity under responsibility of the European Space Agency. MSG 3 will have a liftoff mass of approximately 2,000 kg. for its mission on Ariane 5.

Signature of the MSG 3 contract came on the same day that Arianespace confirmed a launch order for Syracuse IIIB - a third-generation military communications satellite that will serve the operational needs of the French Ministry of Defense. The contract was signed with Alcatel Space, and it calls for Syracuse IIIB to be orbited by an Ariane 5 in late 2005.

These orders bring the total number of satellites booked in 2003 for launch by Arianespace to eight. The others were for Wild Blue 1, Insat 4A and 4B, Astra 1KR, Hot Bird 7A, and Xtar-Eur.