Following its arrival at Cape Canaveral harbour in Florida, US, the Meteosat Third Generation (MTG) Sounder satellite, with the Copernicus Sentinel-4 instrument on board, has been transported safely to the cleanroom at AstroTech facilities.
It has undergone a series of tests and manoeuvres, which were performed to enable the mechanisms of the mission’s Infrared Sounder instrument to be locked and prepared for launch in July 2025. The manoeuvres involved tilting the satellite vertically, back to a horizontal position, then rotating it.
Teams from ESA and OHB are present at the cleanroom and report that the launch campaign is progressing smoothly.
Once in orbit and commissioned, the MTG-Sounder satellites will introduce a groundbreaking infrared sounding capability, enhancing weather prediction accuracy. As Europe’s first-ever infrared sounder in geostationary orbit, the instrument will use interferometric techniques to capture data on temperature, humidity, wind and trace gases in the atmosphere, creating three-dimensional maps of the atmosphere, and revisiting Europe every 30 minutes.
The Sentinel-4 mission is the first mission to monitor European air quality from geostationary orbit for Copernicus. It consists of an ultraviolet, visible and near-infrared imaging spectrometer on board the MTG-Sounder satellites.