Europe’s first Meteosat Third Generation Imager (MTG-I1) satellite is being launched on an Ariane 5 rocket.
The image shows the various stages between liftoff and separation. As well as MTG-I1, the rocket also carries two ‘co-passenger’ satellites: Intelsat Galaxy 35 and 36, which are injected into orbit before MTG-I1.
Carrying two completely new instruments, MTG-I1 will provide state-of-the art observations of Earth’s atmosphere and realtime monitoring of lightning events from geostationary orbit, taking weather forecasting to the next level.