MSG 3 (Meteosat 10)

Spacecraft nº:

ESA spacecraft nº: 77

Launch data: Designation  38552 / 12035B Launch date  05 July 2012 - 21:36 UT Launch site  Ko, ELA-3 Launch vehicle  Ariane-5 ECA (L563 - VA207) Mission  GoverCivil: Meteorology, Weather Geostationary orbit: Perigee / Apogee  35784 x 35791 km Eccentricity  8,30E-05 Inclination  1.8 deg Period  1436.2 min

MSG-1 satellite

Spacecraft data:

Description:

• Manufactured by Thales Alenia Space for Eumetsat, Europe's weather satellite agency, the METEOSAT 10 (MSG 3) satellite is the third of four current-generation Meteosat observatories planned to launch through 2015. MSG 3 will collect highly-detailed imagery of Europe, the North Atlantic, and Africa every 15 minutes for use by weather forecasters. The 4,486-pound (2,035-kg) satellite will operate for at least 7 years, and it will be renamed Meteosat 10 when it enters service. It will replace Meteosat 8, which launched in 2002 and has surpassed its design life, according to Sergio Rota, head of geostationary satellite programs at Eumetsat. Rota said Meteosat 10 will enter service at the beginning of 2013, assuming responsibility for full-disk imaging of Earth in a zone stretching from the North Pole to the South Pole and from Chile to India. Meteosat 9, launched in 2005, will take over rapid-scan services, collecting data every 5 minutes in a specific region over Europe.

Mission details:

• Arianespace launched flight VA207 with vehicle L563 on Jul 5, 2012 carrying Echostar 17 and Meteosat MSG 3 to geostationary transfer orbit.
• MSG (Meteosat Second Generation) flight 3 will become Meteosat 10 on reaching operational status. This 10th European geostationary weather satellite is operated by EUMETSAT, the European Organization for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites, which is based in Darmstadt.
• MSG 3 was inserted in a 253 x 35761 km x 6.0 deg transfer orbit; orbital data after Jul 7 are not yet available. According to reports by the Meteosat LEOP team, apogee firings were performed on Jul 7, 8, 10 and 11, and the SEVIRI cooler cover and SEVIRI baffle cover (10 kg and 4 kg respectively) were ejected on Jul 13 at 0406 UTC. SEVIRI, the Spinning Enhanced Visible and Infrared Imager, is MSG's main instrument, a 12-channel optical radiometer.