ESA - meteosat third generation

ESA title

The mission

Building on the long-standing partnership between ESA and Eumetsat, Meteosat Third Generation will guarantee the continuity of data for weather forecasting from geostationary orbit for the next two decades. The full MTG system is based on a series of two types of satellite: four MTG-Imagers and two MTG-Sounders.

Launches

MTG-I1: 13 December 2022 from Kourou, French Guiana on Ariane 5
MTG-I2: Summer 2026 from Kourou, French Guiana on Ariane 6

MTG-S1: 1 July 2025 from Cape Canaveral, Florida on SpaceX Falcon 9

6 satellite system
4 Imager satellites
2 Sounder satellites
20-year operational life

meteosat third generation

MTG-Sounder satellite over the equator

MTG-S1 commissioned and in position for weather forecasting

15/07/2026 995 views 31 likes

MTG-I2 was taken out of its protective casing at Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana

Unpacking Europe’s new weather imagers

07/07/2026 1678 views 27 likes

Press Release N° 33–2026

Call for interest: MTG-I2 launch media programme at Europe’s Spaceport

Media representatives are invited to express their interest in attending the media programme for the launch of the Meteosat Third Generation (MTG) Imager weather satellite, MTG-I2, at Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana.

02/07/2026 1472 views

FLEX, Sentinel-3C and MTG-I2 on show at TAS cleanrooms

Three ESA-built satellites on show in France

16/04/2026 3892 views 59 likes

Medicane Jolina from MSG

Getting to the core of a medicane

27/03/2026 5020 views 45 likes

MTG-I2 pushed into place for final environmental tests

Next MTG satellite passes final environmental tests

27/03/2026 879 views 20 likes

Press Release N° 13–2026

Media invitation: three innovative European weather and climate satellites in the cleanroom

Journalists are invited to a one-off opportunity to see three ESA-built satellites in their final preparations before liftoff.

11/03/2026 1468 views

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Discover Meteosat Third Generation

Meteosat Third Generation weather satellites

Introducing MTG

20975 views 36 likes

MSG-4 in orbit

Solid heritage

1306 views 2 likes

Rainy weather

Forecasting the weather

4517 views 3 likes

Cyclone Amphan making landfall over Bangladesh

Weathering the storm

1683 views 3 likes

Observing fast-evolving weather with MTG

Satellite constellation

3757 views 18 likes

FCI at Test Centre

Flexible Combined Imager

8011 views 26 likes

MTG to monitor lightning

Lightning Imager

14167 views 17 likes

Meteosat Third Generation Sounder up close

Infrared Sounder

4117 views 8 likes

Testing MTG imager

Facts and figures

3545 views 14 likes

MTG-I and MTG-S

Team talk: 10 things about Meteosat Third Generation

948 views 1 likes

MTG-Sounder satellite over the equator

Team talk: Soundbites from the cleanroom with MTG-S1

341 views 0 likes

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