Metop-SGA1 will improve weather forecasts

by Heiner Kubny
11/15/2025
The second-generation Metop satellites are proof of European innovation and technical excellence in the field of space and Earth observation. (Image: ESA)

A new addition to the weather satellite family of the European Organisations for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites. Metop-SGA1 was successfully launched from Kourou on 13 August 2025 aboard an Ariane 6 rocket. The second-generation weather satellite will deliver data from a polar orbit at an altitude of around 800 kilometres. The satellite will improve numerical weather forecasts and nowcasting to observe the climate. In addition to five instruments, Metop-SGA1 also carries the Sentinel-5 payload of the Copernicus Earth observation programme on board.

The second-generation Metop satellite A1 (Metop Second Generation A1) was successfully launched from the European spaceport in Kourou at 02:37 CEST on 13 August 2025. (Photo: ESA)

It will take another year before the satellite can actually deliver data. Metop-SGA1 is the first of six MtOp-SG satellites. They are always designed in pairs: A and B. Metop-SGA1 is scheduled to launch in the summer of 2026.

The Metop-SGA1 satellite carries a total of six missions with instruments for probing and imaging the atmosphere. The payload includes the new-generation Infrared Atmospheric Sounding Interferometer (IASI-NG), METimage (a spectrometer operating in the visible and infrared ranges), the Microwave Sounder (MWS), a Radio Occultation Sounder and the Multi-Viewing, Multi-Channel, Multi-Polarisation Imager (3MI). The latter is a completely new instrument designed to improve the monitoring of aerosols and cloud properties. Metop-SGA1 also carries the European Union’s Copernicus Sentinel-5 mission, which will provide detailed data on the composition of the atmosphere and trace gases that affect air quality. This data will assist health authorities in monitoring air pollution.

Metop-SGA1 carries a range of state-of-the-art precision instruments as well as the European Union’s Copernicus Sentinel-5 mission. (Image: ESA/ATG medialab)

Christoph Kautz, Director for Space Policy, Earth Observation and Satellite Navigation at the European Commission, said: “The successful launch of Copernicus Sentinel-5 is an outstanding achievement and a fine testament to our close cooperation with EUMETSAT. It will strengthen Europe’s capabilities in pollution monitoring and advancing climate science.

Thanks to synergies with EUMETSAT’s meteorological mission, it was decided that Sentinel-5 should be carried on Metop-SGA1. This joint approach not only optimises the overall cost of the mission, but also reduces the environmental impact by minimising the number of launches required.”

Heiner Kubny, PolarJournal

Source: ESA