Meteosat 6

ESA

Spacecraft nº:

ESA spacecraft nº: 33

Also called MOP 3 (Meteosat Operational Programme)

Launch data:

Designation	22912 / 93073B
Launch date	20 Nov 1993 - 01:17 UT
Launch site	Ko, ELA-2
Launch vehicle	Ariane-44LP (V61)
Mission	Government: Earth Science Civil: Meteorology
Geostationary orbit on:
Perigee / Apogee	35782 x 35792 km
Eccentricity	1,19E-04
Inclination	7.9 deg
Period	1436.13 min

The radiometer didn't work in IR band thus temperature couldn't be measured. The problem could be solved in April 1995 after a software was developped to correct the data.

Specifications

Prime contractor	Aerospatiale (FR)
Operator	EUMETSAT
Mass at launch	681 kg
Mass in orbit	316 kg
Diameter	2.1 m
Height	3.1 m
Stabilization	Spin stabilized (100 rpm)
DC power	BOL: 387 W EOL: 225 W
Design lifetime	16 yrs

Location:

Begin	End	Position
L: 20 Nov 1993	Jan 1996	10°W
Feb 1996	Jun 1998	0°
Jul 1998		9°W
2009		67.22°E

EUMETSAT = European Organization for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites

End of live:

End of Operation:	May 2011
Cause:
Reentered date:
Lifetime:

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
Equipped with 1 S-band transponder. Data rate: 2.6 Mbps
Meteorological spacecraft; intended primarily to support the National Meteorological Services (NMS) of Member States

Ref: #7, #14, #15, #226 - update: 29.10.11