Overview
- SpaceX’s Falcon 9 launched MTG-S1 and Copernicus Sentinel-4 from Cape Canaveral at 23:04 CEST on July 1, with signal acquisition at 23:39 CEST and successful solar-array deployment.
- The spacecraft are en route to geostationary positions 36 000 km above the equator for commissioning before operational data collection begins.
- MTG-S1 carries Europe’s first hyperspectral infrared sounder in geostationary orbit, capable of generating three-dimensional profiles of temperature and moisture every 30 minutes to improve severe-storm nowcasting.
- Sentinel-4’s UVN imaging spectrometer will monitor aerosols, ozone, nitrogen dioxide and sulfur dioxide over Europe and northern Africa every 60 minutes with unprecedented precision for air-quality forecasting.
- The mission is a collaboration led by ESA, EUMETSAT and the Copernicus programme, with prime contractors Thales Alenia Space, OHB Systems and Airbus Defence and Space.