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The latest European Earth observation satellite went into orbit today (6 November) as part of a mission to improve weather forecasts and monitor global climate change whole.
MetOp-C, the third and last satellite of the European Meteorological Satellites Program (MetOp), was taken off the Guiana Space Center in Kourou, French Guiana, at 19:47. EST (00:47 GMT on November 7th), on a Soyuz European rocket provided by private launch company Arianespace.
This was the third successful launch of a Soyuz rocket since the October 11th failure of the launch of a crew on the Russian version of the Soyuz rocket at the International Space Station. This failed launch resulted in a recall separation problem that triggered an automatic flight abortion, separating the capsule from the Soyuz crew from the rocket. The capsule is parachuted to Earth safely. His crew, NASA astronaut Nick Hague and Russian cosmonaut Alexey Ovchinin, were not injured. [Launch Photos! Europe’s MetOp-C Soars Into Orbit on Soyuz Rocket]
Artist's view of the Metop-C satellite in orbit Credit: ESA
Approximately one hour after take-off, the Fregat upper stage of the rocket should deploy MetOp-C into an almost polar helipolar orbit at an altitude of about 547 miles (881 miles) above the Earth. In this type of orbit, the satellite is constantly exposed to sunlight when it turns between the north and south poles of the Earth. [In Photos: Europe’s MetOp-C Weather Satellite Launches on Soyuz Rocket]
Its path will keep it on the terrestrial terminator side, overnight, or overnight, so that "the trajectory of the satellite along the Earth is always at the same local time, in this case in the middle of the morning European Space Agency (ESA) officials said in a description of the mission. The three MetOp satellites were built by ESA and are operated by the European Organization for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites (EUMETSAT).
An Arianespace Soyuz rocket takes off from the Guiana Space Center in Kourou, French Guiana, to deliver the European MetOp-C meteorological satellite on November 6, 2018 in orbit.
Credit: Arianespace
The MetOp-C orbit is complementary to other meteorological satellites operated by the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Like MetOp-A and MetOp-B, MetOp-C will partner with NOAA's fleet of weather satellites as part of an international partnership between NOAA and EUMETSAT.
"To provide improved coverage and higher frequency of visit at mid-latitudes, Metop satellites fly into" mid-morning "orbit, while NOAA JPSS satellites fly into complementary" afternoon "orbits, said Arianespace officials.
While three MetOp satellites cover the "morning" portion of the globe, the NOAA satellites monitor the afternoon side.
Credit: UCAR / COMET Program
NOAA's Common Polar Satellite System (JPSS) currently includes the Suomi NPP satellite and NOAA-20 (also known as JPSS-1). The agency plans to launch three more JPSS satellites by 2031, and EUMETSAT is already working on its MetOp second generation satellite fleet, called MetOp-SG, which is expected to be launched in 2022.
The $ 550 million MetOp-C satellite has an operational life of 5 years. It will then be replaced by second generation satellites. Its predecessors, MetOp-A and MetOp-B, launched in 2006 and 2012, have both exceeded their expected life of 5 years and are still operational. The three satellites were originally to be launched every five years. Each new satellite replaces the previous one, but thanks to their resilience and some launch delays, they will now be operational at the same time.
MetOp-C contains nine different scientific instruments that allow it to measure elements such as temperature, wind speed, humidity and ozone in the atmosphere. An instrument measures charged particles in the radiation belts of the Earth.
"These data are mainly used for numerical weather prediction – the basis of weather forecasting – recent studies show that MetOp-A and MetOp-B have already reduced errors in daily forecasts by almost 27%," officials said. of the ESA in a statement statement.
"Metop satellites in polar orbit are critical for numerical weather prediction from 12 hours to 10 days in advance," Arianespace officials said. "The still-operational Metop-A and -B satellites … make the biggest contribution to reducing errors in weather forecasts one day in advance, so Metop-C should improve them."
Email Hanneke Weitering at [email protected] or follow her. @hannekescience. Follow us on twitter @Spacedotcom and on Facebook. Original article on Space.com.
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