![](\"http:\/\/www.esa.int\/var\/esa\/storage\/images\/esa_multimedia\/images\/2017\/03\/metop_inside_the_lss\/16862274-1-eng-GB\/MetOp_inside_the_LSS_small.jpg\")
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\nThe payload module of MetOp-C, Europe\u2019s latest weather satellite, seen through the side door of Europe\u2019s largest vacuum chamber, the 10 m-diameter Large Space Simulator, during testing in March 2017.\n<\/p>\n
\nThe LSS is part of ESA\u2019s Test Centre<\/a> in the Netherlands, the largest facility of its kind in Europe, providing a complete suite of equipment for all aspects of satellite testing under a single roof.\n<\/p>\n \nMetOp-C\u2019s MetOp-C\u2019s instruments must be tested in space-like vacuum conditions<\/a>. High-performance pumps will remove all air within the chamber to create an orbital-quality vacuum. Meanwhile, liquid nitrogen will circulate through the black walls to mimic the cold of sunless space.\n<\/p>\n \nMetOp<\/a> is a set of three polar-orbiting satellites whose temperature and humidity observations from a relatively close 800 km-altitude orbit have sharpened the accuracy of weather forecasting.\n<\/p>\n \nProcured by ESA for Eumetsat, the European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites, MetOp-A was launched in 2006 and MetOp-B in 2012, with MetOp-C due to follow next year.\n<\/p>\n \nThe 2.1 tonne module carries a suite of meteorology and climatology instruments, variously procured by ESA or sourced from Eumetsat, France\u2019s CNES space agency and the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.\n<\/p>\n \nOnce testing is complete, MetOp-C\u2019s payload module will travel to the Airbus Defence and Space facility in Toulouse, France, to be integrated with its service module \u2013 the segment of the satellite providing attitude and orbit control, electrical power and communications, and hosting the main computer.\n<\/p>\n \nThe launch of MetOp-C by Soyuz from Europe\u2019s Spaceport in French Guiana is scheduled for October 2018.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" \nThe payload module of MetOp-C, Europe’s latest weather satellite, seen through the side door of Europe’s largest vacuum chamber, the 10 m-diameter Large Space Simulator, during testing in March 2017.\n<\/p>\n \nThe LSS is part of ESA’s Test Centre<\/a> in the Netherlands, the largest facility of its kind in Europe, providing a complete suite of equipment for all aspects of satellite testing under a single roof.\n<\/p>\n \nMetOp-C’s MetOp-C’s instruments must be tested in space-like vacuum conditions<\/a>. High-performance pumps will remove all air within the chamber to create an orbital-quality vacuum. Meanwhile, liquid nitrogen will circulate through the black walls to mimic the cold of sunless space.\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n