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A Russian-made Soyuz booster arrived Friday on its tropical launch pad in South America and was joined by a European weather satellite for launch Tuesday night.
The MetOp-C meteorological observatory, built by Airbus Defense and Space and belonging to the European Eumetsat satellite meteorological agency, will fly the Soyuz ST-B rocket and a Fregat upper stage into a polar tower. a height of about 504 miles (811 km) orbit after takeoff from French Guiana at 00:47:27 GMT Wednesday (19:47:27 EST) 21:47:27 GMT Tuesday ).
Preparations for the launch began Friday afternoon at the Guiana Space Center, when Russian crews transferred the Soyuz rocket from an assembly building along the railway leading to a launch pad built for this purpose. effect and carved at the edge of the Amazon jungle. Hydraulic pistons lifted the rocket vertically after the 2,700-foot (700-meter) deployment, and the mobile gantry of the launch pad moved around the Soyuz.
The crews transported the MetOp-C meteorological payload – and its Russian-made Fregat-made upper stage – to the launch pad on Friday in a nearby clean room, where technicians spent the last days mounting the satellite on Fregat and encapsulate it inside the Soyuz payload. fairing. The cranes hoisted the 9,003-pound (4,084-kilogram) probe over the Soyuz launcher inside the mobile tower on the platform on Friday night.
Workers performed additional payload checks on Saturday after installing the MetOp-C satellite on the Soyuz rocket, and officials conducted a readiness review at launch and a rehearsal launch. on Monday. Officials approved continued preparations for launching ahead of Tuesday's countdown.
The launch Tuesday night will be the 19th flight of a Soyuz rocket in South America from the Guiana Space Center, operated by Europeans. The Russian launcher for the first time flew from the jungle spaceport in 2011. This mission will mark the eighth flight of the year with Arianespace, the French launch services provider responsible for launches in French Guiana.
This is also the third time that a Soyuz rocket has been launched after the failure of a Soyuz-FG booster, which resulted in the urgent landing of a two-person crew shortly after takeoff from Kazakhstan on 11 October. of the International Space Station. The launch of the next station team is scheduled for December 3, assuming a series of successful satellite launches using Soyuz rockets, including MetOp-C.
The MetOp-C meteorological satellite will join two other satellites – MetOp-A and MetOp-B – in Eumetsat's polar-orbit constellation, collecting data and images for forecasters around the world.
"With its MetOp satellites, Europe has put polar weather observations on a new standard with innovative European instruments that have significantly improved weather forecasting and climate monitoring and are still unmatched," he said. Alain Ratier, General Manager of Meteorological Satellite Operations.
According to recent impact studies, MetOp-A and -B, the two MetOp currently in orbit, contribute 27% to the reduction of errors in weather forecasts attributed to all sources of observations in time real, "said Ratier.
MetOp-A was launched in 2006 and MetOp-B in 2012. Both were launched aboard Soyuz boosters at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan and continue to collect data beyond their expected five-year lifespan. MetOp-C is almost identical to the two previous satellites.
Meteorologists expect that the addition of a third MetOp satellite will result in improved data for weather forecast models. MetOp-C will fly about the same orbit as its two predecessors, with a slight time lag.
"I think it's very motivating, this Tristar constellation that we will have with the MetOp satellites – the first time we'll have this operation – it means that every point on the Earth will be observed three times three times very quickly minutes, "said Florence Rabier, Director General of the European Center for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts.
The three satellites are expected to work together until the MetOp-A satellite is removed by early 2022.
"MetOp satellites in orbit have demonstrated their significant contribution to accurate weather forecasts and still represent the world's most advanced polar-orbiting meteorological satellites," said Graeme Mason, MetOp Program Manager at the European Space Agency. , who procured and developed the MetOp satellites for Eumetsat. "In addition, by far exceeding their initial lifespan, they offer an excellent return on investment to the weather community.
MetOp satellites are part of a transatlantic partnership between Eumetsat and NOAA, which owns the US fleet of civil weather surveillance spacecraft. NOAA's polar-orbiting meteorological satellites surround Earth in orbits that fly over the afternoon, local time, while MetOp satellites provide mid-morning coverage.
Forecasters also use data from the US Air Force's polar orbit meteorological observatories, which fly into orbit with early morning passes.
The open data-sharing system allows meteorologists in the United States, Europe, and around the world to have a broader view of the conditions governing the formation and movement of weather systems.
"We are excited to have the next MetOp satellite on board," said James Yoe, chief administrative officer of the Joint Center for Satellite Data Assimilation, a multi-agency research center between NOAA, NASA and the US Department of Defense. . "The installation of a third MetOp satellite in orbit is not limited to a backup. It also means more data and more stability for our weather forecasting needs. "
Polar-orbiting weather satellites are best suited to collect information on storms and atmospheric dynamics that enter NWP models for medium-range forecasts of 12 hours to 10 days, according to Eumetsat. NOAA, Eumetsat and weather agencies in Russia, India, China, South Korea and Japan also operate weather satellites in geostationary orbit at more than 22,000 miles above the equator, providing near real-time images useful for short-term forecasts.
MetOp-C offers instruments to monitor temperature, humidity, trace gases, ozone and wind speed over the ocean. Many of these instruments were provided by NOAA, in exchange for contributions of European instruments flying on US meteorological satellites.
MetOp-C is the latest in the current design of European meteorological satellites. Eumetsat is planning a new MetOp satellite series called MetOp Second Generation, which will be launched in polar orbit in 2022.
The Soyuz ST-B rocket carrying MetOp-C will be heading north of French Guiana and will drop its first four kerosene propellants into the Atlantic Ocean about two minutes after takeoff. The Soyuz will drop its nasal fascia at T + plus 3 minutes and 36 seconds after the MetOp-C probe is strengthened above the denser and lower layers of the Earth's atmosphere.
The main stage of the Soyuz rocket will drop to T + plus 4 minutes 48 seconds, and the third Soyuz reactor RD-0124 will stop and separate from the upper stage of the Fregat launcher at T + plus 9 minutes and 24 seconds.
Two shots with Fregat's main machine are required, first to reach a preliminary elliptical parking orbit, and then to inject the MetOp-C satellite into the planned near-circular deployment orbit of between 493 and 508 miles at -above. Earth, with an inclination of 98.7 degrees.
The separation of the MetOp-C satellite from the upper stage of Fregat is programmed at T + plus 60 minutes and 18 seconds.
Controllers at ESA 's operations center in Darmstadt, Germany, will oversee an initial activation period and verification of the new three – day satellite, starting with the monitoring of the three – day satellite. Execution of pre-programmed commands allowing MetOp-C to deploy its solar panel shortly after arrival in the satellite. orbit.
Eumetsat will take control of the satellite approximately 72 hours after launch and will start lighting the MetOp-C instruments for several months of testing. Managers expect to declare MetOp-C for operational service early next year.
More photos of the Soyuz rocket deployment and the installation of the MetOp-C satellite at the top of the launcher are shown below.
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