EUMETSAT, the European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites, held its 76th Council meeting in Darmstadt, Germany, on 5 and 6 July

At 23:36:07 CEST (18:36:07 Kourou time), MSG-3 was successfully launched from Kourou, Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana, on an Ariane-5 launcher to replace the ageing Meteosat-8 and secure continuity of the operational services from the geostationary orbit.

Today, EUMETSAT Director-General Alain Ratier signed the International Charter on Space and Major Disasters

The revised launch date for the Metop-B satellite from the Baikonur Cosmodrome has been set for 19 September 2012

Arianespace has announced that the launch date of the MSG-3 satellite from the European Spaceport in Kourou, originally foreseen for 19 June, has been reset to the evening of the 5 July 2012.

Additional measures required to ensure the availability of safe drop zones for parts of the launcher after lift off.

EUMETSAT is preparing to ship its third Meteosat Second Generation (MSG-3) satellite to French Guiana on 13 April for a 19 June 2012 launch from Kourou, the European Space Port, to ensure continuity of real-time weather monitoring from geostationary orbit 36,000 km from Earth.

The second Continuous Development and Operations Phase (CDOP-2) for EUMETSAT’s Satellite Application Facility (SAF) network which began this month will improve and expand the portfolio of SAF products and services over the next five years

Following a management meeting with Arianespace, the launch date of the Metop-B polar-orbiting satellite has been set for 23 May 2012