EUMETSAT Council concludes the approval EPS Second Generation
EUMETSAT Council concludes the approval of the EPS Second Generation programme and achieves progress on Jason-CS
The 83rd meeting of the EUMETSAT Council took place in Darmstadt, Germany, on 23 and 24 June.
02 November 2020
24 June 2015
The Council successfully concluded the approval process for the EUMETSAT Polar System Second Generation (EPS-SG ) programme with all 30 Member States having now firmly committed themselves. Based on this decision, the EUMETSAT Council authorised the Director-General to prepare and sign programme-related agreements with the European Space Agency (ESA), the French space agency CNES, and the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
EPS-SG is the mandatory programme required to deliver observations from polar orbit in the 2021-2042 timeframe. It will improve and expand the observation capabilities of the first generation EPS, required to further improve operational weather forecasting up to 10 days ahead.
The meeting achieved progress in the approval process for the optional Jason-CS programme: 77.83% of the financial envelope of the programme is now covered by Participating States and further progress is expected during the summer.
The EUMETSAT optional Jason-CS programme is the proposed EUMETSAT contribution to the development and implementation of the Copernicus Sentinel-6 mission, in partnership with ESA, the European Union and the United States (NASA). The mission will extend until 2030 the climate record of sea level measurements accumulated since 1992 by the Topex-Poseidon, Jason, Jason-2 and Jason-3 missions. It will also support the development of operational oceanography and seasonal forecasts in Europe.
Regarding Meteosat Third Generation (MTG), the Council approved the contract with Arianespace for the first three launch services (MTG-I1, MTG-S1 and MTG–I2).
MTG will continue and enhance the services currently delivered by the Meteosat Second Generation series in support of nowcasting and very short-range forecasting of high impact weather in the 2020-2040 timeframe.
The Council also confirmed Alain Ratier as the Director-General of EUMETSAT for a further period of four years, until 31 July 2020. Ratier has served the organisation since 2011.
