Baikonur, Kazakhstan, 19
October
2006
Astrium’s MetOp satellite has been successfully launched by Starsem on 19 October, at 10:28 pm, Baikonur time (4:28 pm UTC), using a Soyuz rocket. Astrium is the satellite prime contractor and responsible for three of the 11 instruments on board the spacecraft. MetOp has reached low Earth orbit, becoming Europe’s first polar-orbiting satellite dedicated to operational meteorology. It represents Europe’s contribution to a new co-operative venture with the United States, providing data that will be used to monitor our climate and improve weather forecasting.
