Meteosat 4

Europe / ESA

International Sat. nº:

ESA satellite nº: 27
Also called MOP 1 (Meteosat Operational Programme)

Launch data:

Designation19876 / 89020B
Launch date06 Mar 1989
Launch siteKo, ELA-2
Launch vehicle Ariane 44LP (V29)
MissionMeteorology
Geostationary orbit on:
Perigee / Apogee35537 / 35888 km
Inclination1,17°
Period1432,21 min

Europe's first operational meteorological satellite

Specifications

Prime contractor Aerospatiale
OperatorAESA-->EUMETSAT
Mass at launch 681 kg
Mass in orbit 316 kg
which includes 40 kg of hydrazine propellant
Diameter 2.1 m
Height 3.1 m
PropulsionMage-1 ejectable
Stabilization Spin stabilized (100 rpm)
DC power BOL: 387 W
EOL: 225 W
Design lifetime 5 years

Location


Begin End Position
L: 6 Mar 1989   0°E
Feb 1995 May 1995 7.7°W
Aug 1995 Oct 1995 10°E, inclined

End of life

Out of service Early Nov 1995
Cause pushed to the junk orbit

Payloads:


Multispectral Radiometer

Wavebands 0.4-1.1 µm (visible)
5.7-7.1 µm (IR): water vapor absorption
10.5-12.5 µm (thermal IR)
Resolution visible: 2.5 km
others: 5 km
Image repeat frequency 30 minutes (3 bands)
Telemetry - Data UHF- and S-band (1 transponder per band)
Data rate 333 kbps (normal), 2.7 Mbps (burst)

MMD (Meteorological Data Dissemination)

Channel frequencies digital high resolution (HR): 1694.5 MHz
analogue weather facsimile (WEFAX): 1691 MHz
MDD (A & B) 1695.77 +/- 0.165 MHz

Downlink frequency: 137.08 MHz, 1691 & 1694.5 MHz + in S-band
Heard on 1675.281, 1675.18 1686.833, 1691, 1695.77 MHz

Ref: #3(SD223), #14, #15 -update: 25.06.05