Successful launch of MSG-3!

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09 July 2012

Last night the MSG-3 satellite lifted off on an Ariane 5 launcher from Europe's Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana.

The satellite will ensure that Europe and Africa continue to receive up-to-date weather coverage.

ESA is responsible for the development of the satellite, its launch, and the Early Orbit Phase operations required to place the spacecraft in its necessary orbit. In ten days, after this is completed, ESA will hand over the satellite to EUMETSAT (the European Organization for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites) for exploitation.

MSG-3 is the third in a series of four satellites introduced in 2002. These satellites carry an imager called SEVIRI, which focuses on Europe and Africa to deliver weather coverage. The imager helps improve weather forecasts, in particular for rapidly developing storms. It scans Earth’s surface and atmosphere every 15 minutes in 12 different wavelengths.

The last of the series, MSG-4, is planned for launch in 2015.