Europe launches new MTG satellite for enhanced weather and climate monitoring

Dec. 14 (UPI) -- The European Space Agency has launched the first of a third generation of weather satellites for early detection and prediction of fast-developing severe storms. The satellite will be also be used for weather forecasting and climate monitoring.

The Meteosat Third Generation Imager satellite is set to revolutionize short-term weather forecasting in Europe. Launched Tuesday evening from Europe's Spaceport in French Guiana, the satellite successfully separated from the rocket 34 minutes after lift-off.

"MTG was developed thanks to the expertise of ESA, Eumetsat and a highly competitive European space industry. With the satellite's innovative design and its novel 'lightning catcher,' MTG will push European weather forecasting into the future," said ESA Director of Earth Observation Programs Simonetta Cheli in a statement.

According to ESA, the satellite will be boosted from the initial geostationary transfer orbit to the circular geostationary orbit in a series of thruster burns. This phase will last for about five days, positioning the new satellite close to its final operation location directly over Africa's Ivory Coast.

"After over a decade of close cooperation and hard work of all involved, to see the first of the MTG-I satellites take to the skies is a profound experience for me," ESA Meteosat Program Manager Paul Blythe said in a statement.

Eumetsat Director General Phil Evans said the purpose of this multi-billion-euro investment is to provide meteorological services with a vastly increased amount of more precise information which will help protect lives, property and infrastructure.

The MTG-11 is the first of six satellites that form the full MTG system. When fully operating the system will include two MTG-1 satellites and one MTG Sounding satellite working in tandem.

ESA said there are two completely new instruments onboard the satellites -- a Flexible Combined Imager and Europe's first Lightening Imager. They will deliver high-quality new data for better short-term weather forecasting.

It's the first time that a geostationary weather satellite will have the capacity to detect lightning across Europe, Africa and the surrounding waters.

The Flexible Combined Imager can scan the entire Earth in just ten minutes and will scan Europe and northern Africa every 2.5 minutes, according to the EAS.

This MTG mission is a joint effort of Eumetsat and the ESA. The MTG satellites are built by a consortium of European industries.