MetOp to be launched on 17 October
EUMETSAT confirms Tuesday 17 October as the new launch date for MetOp, Europe's first polar-orbiting satellite dedicated to operational meteorology. MetOp will lift off at 18:28 CEST (16:28 UTC; 22:28 local time) from the Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan on a Soyuz/ST launcher.
Due to a mechanical incident at the Baikonur launch base on 30 September the launch of MetOp, originally planned for Saturday 7 October 2006, had to be postponed.
