EUMETSAT Signs With Starsem for Soyuz Launches of MetOp

EUMETSAT (European Meteorological Satellite Organization) signed a US$120 million contract with Starsem for the launch of two MetOp satellites, with an option for a third. The satellites will be launched into an 835 km polar orbit. The first satellite will be launched in mid-2005 by the Soyuz/ST launch vehicle from the Baikonur Cosmodrome. The second satellite is expected to be launched in 2009. No date has been set for the third launch.

The MetOp (Meteorological Operational) satellites will carry eight instruments provided by ESA, EUMETSAT, NOAA and the French space agency CNES. A core set of instruments for atmospheric sounding and earth imaging will be identical to those flown on the NOAA satellites of the U.S. This core instrument set includes the Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) instrument for imaging clouds and the surface of the earth. The sounding package on both satellite series will include the High Resolution Infrared Radiation Sounder (HIRS), Advanced Microwave Sounding Unit-A (AMSU-A) and the Microwave Humidity Sounder (MHS). Additional Metop instruments will improve atmospheric soundings, as well as provide measurements of atmospheric ozone and near-surface winds over the ocean.

The MetOp satellites, developed and manufactured by Astrium, will have an overall mass of about 4.5 tons, and fly in a 5-day repeat sun-synchronous orbit with an Equator descending crossing time at 9.30 am. Together, the operation of the three satellites in the series should span a period of at least 14 years, with each having an expected life time of 5 years. The satellite design is based on an adapted Polar Platform that ESA developed for its ENVISAT-1 satellite.

The satellites will be operated in conjunction with the two polar weather satellites operated by the U.S NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration). NOAA will continue to support the afternoon orbit and EUMETSAT will assume responsibility for the morning orbit. The U.S. is working to converge its present parallel systems of civilian (NOAA) and defense (DMSP) meteorological satellites. In the 2008 time-frame, these two systems will merge together to become NPOESS (National Polar Operational Environmental Satellite System).

EUMETSAT is an intergovernmental organization responsible for the operational weather satellites for 17 European nations (Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey and the United Kingdom). EUMETSAT also has three Cooperating members (the Republic of Slovakia, Hungary and Poland).

Starsem is a Russian/European joint venture formed in 1996 to manage commercial operation of the Soyuz launch vehicle family. Starsem shareholders are: EADS (35%), Arianespace (15%), the Russian Aviation and Space Agency RAKA (25%) and the TsSKB-Progress Samara Space Center (25%).  

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