Meteosat Second Generation is a 3.7 m high, cylindrically-shaped satellite, designed for weather observation and climate research. The three-story construction houses the flight and attitude control unit with the spherical propellant tanks in the lower compartment. MSG has a new bi-propellant unified propulsion system for fast orbit acquisition and precise orbit maintenance. The medium section of the satellite houses its four instruments, the imaging radiometer SEVIRI, the climate research instrument GERB, a search and rescue transponder and the communication equipment. The Meteorological Communication Payload (MCP), is on the upper part of the satellite, including antennas and transponders for data download and relay.