MSG-4 preparing to ship for 2 July 2015 launch and placement into in-orbit storage
EUMETSAT is preparing to ship its fourth Meteosat Second Generation (MSG-4) satellite to French Guiana on 27 April. The satellite will leave Nice airport on board an Antonov aircraft for arrival in Cayenne, French Guiana, on 28 April for launch on 2 July from the European Space Port.
22 October 2020
18 March 2015
The MSG series of geostationary satellites is vital to ensure the safety of lives, property and infrastructure through its critical value for the nowcasting of high impact weather. They are operated as a two-satellite system providing both full disc imagery over Europe and Africa every 15 minutes and rapid scan imagery over Europe only every five minutes.
MSG-4 will be stored in orbit after launch and commissioning. As Meteosat-11, it will ultimately bridge the gap between Meteosat-10 (launched in 2012) and thefirst MTG satellites , expected to be launched in 2019 and 2021.
MSG-4 is the last of the MSG satellites resulting from the successful cooperation model with the European Space Agency (ESA), which is responsible for the development of satellites fulfilling user and system requirements defined by EUMETSAT and for the procurement of recurrent satellites on its behalf. EUMETSAT develops the ground systems required to deliver products and services to users and to respond to their evolving needs. It also procures all launch services and operates the full system for the benefit of users.
All MSG satellites are manufactured by a European consortium led by Thales Alenia Space.
