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MetOp-A gets green light for 17 July launch date   MetOp satellite in the Upper Composite Integration Facility (UCIF) before being moved to the Hazardous Processing Facility (HPF), where launch campaign activities will enter next phase. MetOp-A was launched on 19 October 2006 from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, on a Soyuz ST rocket with a Fregat upper stage.  MetOp's Payload Module in the Upper Composite Integration Facility (UCIF) ‘clean room’ is waiting for integration and testing with the Service Module. MetOp-A was launched on 19 October 2006 from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, on a Soyuz ST rocket with a Fregat upper stage.  MetOp-A was launched on a Soyuz/ST Fregat rocket from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on 19 October 2006. The launcher consists of three stages, all of which use liquid oxygen and kerosene as propellant.  It takes about 100 minutes for MetOp to orbit Earth. During the time it takes to complete one orbit, Earth has rotated around 25°. This means observations are made over a different part of Earth in each orbit.
Different instruments have different swathe widths and therefore take different times to observe the entire planet. However, all of the instruments achieve global coverage within five days. Release date: 27 June 2006 |