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: 27 August 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-I’s orbit is geostationary

Lightning watch satellites spotted mystery Atlantic fireball

28/07/2026 990 views 8 likes

MTG-Sounder satellite over the equator

MTG-S1 commissioned and in position for weather forecasting

15/07/2026 1344 views 39 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 1874 views 28 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 1720 views

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

Three ESA-built satellites on show in France

16/04/2026 4012 views 59 likes

Medicane Jolina from MSG

Getting to the core of a medicane

27/03/2026 5099 views 45 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 1485 views

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Discover Meteosat Third Generation

Meteosat Third Generation weather satellites

Introducing MTG

21093 views 36 likes

MSG-4 in orbit

Solid heritage

1315 views 2 likes

Rainy weather

Forecasting the weather

4535 views 3 likes

Cyclone Amphan making landfall over Bangladesh

Weathering the storm

1696 views 3 likes

Observing fast-evolving weather with MTG

Satellite constellation

3771 views 18 likes

FCI at Test Centre

Flexible Combined Imager

8086 views 26 likes

MTG to monitor lightning

Lightning Imager

14249 views 17 likes

Meteosat Third Generation Sounder up close

Infrared Sounder

4157 views 8 likes

Testing MTG imager

Facts and figures

3571 views 14 likes

MTG-I and MTG-S

Team talk: 10 things about Meteosat Third Generation

954 views 1 likes

MTG-Sounder satellite over the equator

Team talk: Soundbites from the cleanroom with MTG-S1

347 views 0 likes

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