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Satellite  About the spacecraft
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 carries 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.
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 was launched in October 2006 from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on a Soyuz/ST Fregat operated by Starsem. MetOp-B is set for launch on 23 May 2012 from Baikonur on a Soyuz rocket with a Fregat upper stage. Last update: 2 April 2012
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