Fuelling underway

The first Meteosat Third Generation Imager (MTG-I1) satellite has been at Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana since the middle of October being readied for liftoff. A critical milestone in preparing for launch is fuelling the satellite for its life in space. The image shows specialists kitted in scape suits busy with the hazardous task of fuelling. Liftoff on scheduled for mid-December 2022 on an Ariane 5 rocket.

This new satellite carries two completely new instrument that will deliver high-quality data to improve weather forecasts: a Flexible Combined Imager and Europe’s first Lightning Imager.

The Flexible Combined Imager has more spectral channels and is capable of imaging in higher resolution compared to current Meteosat Second Generation’s Spinning Enhanced Visible and Infrared instrument.

The Lightning Imager offers a completely new capability for European meteorological satellites. It will continuously monitor more than 80% of the Earth disc for lightning discharges, taking place either between clouds or between clouds and the ground.