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| | | | | | | | | MetOp-A undergoing final testing | |
About the spacecraft
The MetOp-A satellite, developed by a consortium of European companies led by the main contractor EADS-Astrium, France, builds on the heritage gained from a successful series of European satellites, including the French Space Agency’s (CNES) SPOT and ESA’s ERS and Envisat.
The satellite consists of a Solar Array and two modules: the Payload Module (PLM) and the Service Module (SVM). The PLM accommodates the whole suite of instruments and associated support equipment. It includes advanced versions of the widely used scatterometer and ozone-monitoring instruments already flying onboard the ERS-2 satellite. The SVM, which interfaces with the launcher, provides the main satellite support functions, such as command and control, communications with the ground, power and orbit control and propulsion.
MetOp-A will carry a set of 'heritage' instruments, provided by the United States’ National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the French Space Agency (CNES), and a new generation of European instruments offering precise sensing capabilities to both meteorologists and climatologists.
| | | ASCAT measures wind speed and direction over the oceans |
The new instruments will improve the accuracy of the vertical profiles of atmospheric temperature and humidity as well as providing wind speed and direction measurements over the ocean. Atmospheric trace gases, notably ozone, will also be measured.
Together with the onboard instruments, the satellite weighs 4.1 tonnes and measures 17.6m x 6.6m x 5.2m when deployed in orbit, making it the second largest European Earth Observation satellite, after Envisat.
The first of three satellites in the MetOp series, MetOp-A will be launched in October 2006 from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on a Soyuz/ST Fregat operated by Starsem.
Last update: 15 September 2006 | |
| | In depth Spacecraft specificationsProject milestonesSoyuz launch vehicleRelated missions Envisat overviewERS overviewRelated links EADS-Astrium NOAACNES
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