The Payload Module of ESA’s latest meteorological satellite, MetOp-B, has been hauled out of the largest vacuum chamber in Europe: its ability to operate in the harsh conditions of space has been proved. MetOp programme manager Luciano Di Napoli and coordinator Rob Oremus explain MetOp-B testing
After more than a month of testing in ESA’s Large Space Simulator (LSS) at ESTEC in the Netherlands, MetOp-B’s Payload Module was lifted out of the vacuum chamber on 28 July.
Payload Module moved after being lifted from ESTEC's Large Space Simulator on 28 July 2010. MetOp-B's Payload Module is the segment of the satellite that hosts its meteorological instruments.
Members of the MetOp-B team pictured with the mission's Payload Module on 28 July 2010, following the conclusion of thermal vacuum testing in ESTEC's Large Space Simulator.
MetOp-A is Europe's first polar orbiting satellite dedicated to operational meteorology, and with its contribution to the American Polar Orbiting Environmental Satellite (POES) Programme it marks a new era in global weather prediction and climate monitoring. From its polar orbit 800 kilometres above the surface of the Earth, MetOp's range of European and American instruments will provide a wealth of accurate and detailed information to meteorologists and scientists around the world.
MetOp-A was launched on 19 October 2006 from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, on a Soyuz ST rocket with a Fregat upper stage.
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