European Weather Satellite Enters Orbit

WEATHER REPORT

MetOp-A (pictured) is billed as the most sophisticated Earth-observation satellite ever built.

by Staff Writers
Paris (AFP) Oct 19, 2006
Europe's ultra-advanced weather satellite went into orbit on Thursday evening, the European Space Agency said here, starting its climate-monitoring mission at last after five previous attempts had failed. Two hours after a Soyuz-Fregat rocket carrying the 4.1-tonne satellite MetOp-A lifted off from the Russian space base at Baikonur, Kazakhstan, the agency (ESA) announced around 1830 GMT that the satellite had been put into its 850-kilometer (531-mile) orbit around the poles.

MetOp-A promptly deployed the built-in solar panel by which it will store energy to run itself as it circles the globe.

ESA officials in charge of the flight responded with relief at the announcement, which was relaid from a launch team based in Germany to their colleagues at the agency's Paris headquarters.

Five previous attempts to launch the six-metre-long new-generation satellite since July had been thwarted by technical hitches and poor weather.

MetOp-A is billed as the most sophisticated Earth-observation satellite ever built, with 13 instruments to record temperature, humidity, wind speed and ozone cover across the globe, monitor the environment in space and listen out for signals from ships and aircraft in distress.

Europe's current generation of weather satellites operates at geostationary orbit, providing snapshots of half of the Earth from a distance of 36,000 kilometres (22,500 miles).

MetOp will provide pictures of the entire globe, swinging around the poles in 101-minute orbits while the planet turns.

These images will be in much finer detail than those provided by geostationary satellites and should enable forecasters to speed up accurate medium-range forecasts by half a day, according to MetOp's operator, the European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites (EUMETSAT).

France's Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin hailed Thursday's launch, saying in a statement that it reflected the "particularly dynamic nature of European cooperation" in space exploration.

He highlighted what he called the "excellent cooperation" between his country and Russia in the field, hoping that this would "intensify in the years to come".

MetOp will operate in conjunction with the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), whose satellite will fly in a complementary orbit in order to maximise coverage.

Two other MetOp (Meteorological Operational) satellites will follow MetOp-A under a 2.4-billion-euro (three-billion-dollar) plan over the next 10 years. Together, they will provide EUMETSAT with data until 2020.

EUMETSAT has pledged three quarters of the cost, with the rest coming from the ESA.

Source: Agence France-Presse

WEATHER REPORT

Fourth Launch Delay For Europe Weather Satellite

Paris (AFP) Oct 18, 2006
The hitch-strewn launch of a European weather satellite by a Russian rocket was hit by a fresh delay on Tuesday, mission officials said. The 4.1-tonne satellite MetOp-A was to have been launched aboard a Soyuz-Fregat rocket from the Russian space base in Baikonur, Kazakhstan, at 1628 GMT.

DISASTER MANAGEMENT Intelligent Sensors Gear Up For Real-Time Flood Monitoring China Ready For Refugee Rush After North Korean Nuclear Test FEMA Signing Statement Blasted North Korea Braces For Sanctions	CLIMATE SCIENCE Munching Microbes Help Battle Against Global Warming Australian Drought Driving Farmers To Desperation Australia Pumps Cash Into Drought-Hit Farms Extreme Environment Changes Fish Appearance
EARTH OBSERVATION Deimos And Surrey Satellite Technology Contract For Spanish Imaging Mission NASA Satellite Data Helps Assess the Health of Florida's Coral Reef Alcatel Alenia Space To Build SIRAL-2 Radar Altimeter For CryoSat-2 Earth from Space: The French Frigate Shoals	ENERGY TECH Russian Envionment Agency To Inspect Gazprom Neft Activities Biofuel Cells Without The Bio Cells A Boost For Solar Cells With Photon Fusion Think-Tank To Focus On Aluminium Industry Sustainability
EPIDEMICS Indonesia Defends H5N1 Fight Staph Bug Grows In Community West Java Goes Own Way On Avian Flu Management A Biocontrol Agent Which Doesn't Trigger Antibiotic Resistance	FLORA AND FAUNA Earliest Fungi May Have Found Multiple Solutions To Propagation On Land Far More Than A Meteor Killed Dinos New Dwarf Buffalo Discovered By Chance In The Philippines Researchers Give Name To Ancient Mystery Creature
FROTH AND BUBBLE Growing Concern Over Estrogen-Like Compounds In US Rivers HK Leader Under Fire For Doing "Too Little, Too Late" On Pollution More Than 4,500 Tonnes Of Toxic Waste Collected In Ivory Coast Billions Needed To Clean Aniva Bay In Sakhalin Project	ABOUT US American Population About To Pass 300 Million Mark Rapid Rise In The Arctic Ocean May Alter Views Of Human Migration Democrat Push For Wellness Agency More Than Meets The Human Eye

The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2006 - SpaceDaily.AFP and UPI Wire Stories are copyright Agence France-Presse and United Press International. ESA PortalReports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additionalcopyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement,agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by SpaceDaily on any Web page published or hosted by SpaceDaily. Privacy Statement