The date had been fixed "in close coordination with our Russian colleagues, who have to get the rocket ready," mission chief Alain Fournier-Sicre told AFP.

The launch of the satellite named MetOp was postponed in July because of a series of technical problems with the Soyuz-2 launcher.

The four-tonne satellite is the most complex of its kind, carrying around a dozen instruments for measuring weather patterns and transmitting back data.

The European Space Agency says that this and two more satellites to be launched in coming years will provide higher quality data to improve weather forecasting and climate monitoring.

The three satellites are costed at 2.4 billion euros (three billion dollars). They will work in conjunction with weather satellites operated by the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

All rights reserved. � 2005 Agence France-Presse. Sections of the information displayed on this page (dispatches, photographs, logos) are protected by intellectual property rights owned by Agence France-Presse. As a consequence, you may not copy, reproduce, modify, transmit, publish, display or in any way commercially exploit any of the content of this section without the prior written consent of Agence France-Presse.