On 13 December an Ariane-5 rocket successfully blasted off from Europe’s spaceport in French Guiana carrying into space the imager satellite MTG-I, the first METEOSAT Third Generation (MTG) satellite.

Fruit of longstanding cooperation between ESA and the European Organization for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites (EUMETSAT), MTG is one of the most complex and groundbreaking geostationary meteorological satellites ever built. The complete constellation comprises six satellites: four imager satellites and two sounder satellites (which will be the first to enter an operational geostationary orbit).

Under the MTG program GMV is responsible for the procurement of the Mission Operation Facility (MOF), which includes the main components of the ground segment for commanding and controlling EUMETSAT’s fleet of next-generation geostationary satellites; the mission control system (MCS); the mission planning system (MPS) and the flight dynamic system (FDS).

In addition, GMV has been deeply involved in the payload processing activities being responsible for the development of the prototypes of the processors related to the satellite payload including the instrument simulator, together with the procurement of final operational processing system.

All these systems are backed up by a set of operational tools for automation, operations-preparation and configuration management.

This new generation of meteorological satellites is designed to revolutionize weather forecasting, allowing for a more accurate monitoring of the earth’s atmosphere, land and sea, and greatly enhancing image-generating capabilities as compared to METEOSAT Second Generation (MSG).

The MTG satellites’ observations will drive development of performance-enhancing products and services in all the following areas: fire extinguishment, air-quality prediction, air traffic control, search and rescue missions, disaster risk reduction, farming yield, marine and coastal management, sustainable-energy production and many more.