News & Events

Space launch of Meteosat Third Generation Imager-1

The first of the next generation of European weather satellites was launched on Tuesday 13th December from Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana. The Meteosat Third Generation Imager-1 (MTGI1) will support meteorologists in improving the detection and forecasting of severe weather events.

The European Space Agency (ESA) and the European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites (EUMETSAT) mission will guarantee and improve the accuracy of weather forecasting from geostationary satellites for the next 20 years.

The first satellite of the new generation, Meteosat Third Generation-Imager 1 (MTGI1), will provide improved capabilities in monitoring extreme events such as storms, flooding, fires and fog. The satellite will produce images over Europe and Africa every 10 minutes from the Flexible Combined Imager’s 16 spectral channels.

You can read more about MTGI1 and watch the launch on the ESA website.

Image 1: Satellite image of Ariane-5 rocket zooming into space (picture credit to Senior NCEO and Ral-Space Scientist Simon Proud and NOAA Satellites). Can you see the red dot?
Image 2: Satellite image of Ariane-5 rocket zooming into space (picture credit to Senior NCEO and Ral-Space Scientist Simon Proud and NOAA Satellites). Can you see the green dot?
Image 3: Satellite image of Ariane-5 rocket zooming into space (picture credit to Senior NCEO and Ral-Space Scientist Simon Proud and NOAA Satellites). Can you see the green dot?