Finding a way forward

 

Meet Giordano Bruni, one of many behind the EUMETSAT Polar System – Second Generation mission

As we gear up for this year’s launch of the first of the EUMETSAT Polar System – Second Generation satellites, we’re shining a spotlight on some of the experts who are making this mission happen.

Last Updated

14 May 2025

Published on

13 May 2025

As he grew up in Italy, Giordano Bruni developed a strong fascination with flying and initially wanted to become a military pilot. But when he realised that a career in the armed forces was not the right path for him – and that his eyesight wasn’t quite up to the challenge –he chose to study electronics engineering instead.

“I've always been fascinated with computers and electronics,” he said.

“I like maths, too, but even though I was good at that, it was too theoretical a field for me. I wanted my work to be more concrete.”

Now, as EUMETSAT Polar System – Second Generation (EPS-SG) Instrument Systems Manager, Bruni’s knowledge and experience enable him to contribute to a particularly tangible goal: the optimal functioning of instruments on satellites in this series – the first of which, Metop Second Generation A1 (Metop SG-A1), is planned for launch this August.

His work entails supporting the procurement of satellite instruments from industry by partner organisations, such as the European Space Agency, ESA, the French national space agency, CNES, and the German national space agency, DLR.

“If you are renovating your house, you would not just tell your construction workers what to do and say, ‘See you in six months’, expecting to come back to everything having been done brilliantly, as planned,” he said.

“Similarly, we wouldn’t ask our partners to design and produce the satellite instruments according to our specifications and say, ‘See you in five years’. Because the reality is that they would probably run into some problems along the way.

Portrait Giordano Bruni
Giordano Bruni, EPS-SG Systems Manager

“The best way forward is to follow the procurement of each instrument throughout its development so that whenever an issue pops up, we can contribute to finding a way forward.”

This is what he and his team helped to do back in 2022 when a problem arose with the Infrared Atmospheric Sounding Interferometer – New Generation (IASI-NG), which measures temperature, humidity, atmospheric composition and more. Shortly after completion of the instrument testing, Airbus Defence and Space (Airbus DS) and CNES discovered that one of the detectors was not functioning as expected.

Each identical satellite, this first one plus its two replacements, to be launched after each one has reached the end of its life, will carry an IASI-NG instrument. Unfortunately, this instrument was supposed to go up on the very first satellite, so there was not much time to understand the severity of the situation and find a solution.

Bruni and his team were faced with a number of serious questions. Did the problem plaguing this instrument also affect the next identical instrument planned to fly on the replacement satellite, Metop Second Generation A2 (Metop SG-A2)? If not, could they expedite the construction of that one to make it possible to be flown on the first satellite?

Luckily, testing revealed that the problem with the detector did not affect the second IASI-NG instrument. So, Bruni and his team cooperated with CNES, ESA, and Airbus DS, to work out a plan to speed up the construction of the second IASI-NG, which was delivered in September 2024.

“It’s not the kind of problem where you can go in with a screwdriver to fix it,” said Bruni.

“There's no heroic gestures behind it. Like most of our challenges, it’s solved purely through careful analysis and finding a compromise where everybody shares the right amount of risk.”

With the launch of Metop SG-A1 now only a few months away, Bruni is approaching this upcoming milestone with cautious optimism.

“As the first satellite in this series, it will be the first time to see a Metop-SG satellite operating in its real environment,” he said.

“By the time of the launch, we’ll have done all the tests we were supposed to do and be confident that it will operate as expected, but it won’t be until after launch that we will get the confirmation that everything works.

“So, when I think about the launch, it’s with a combination of tension and excitement.”

Author:

Sarah Puschmann

Further reading

Next