Article Posted on : - Nov 19, 2010

Meteosat Third Generation (MTG) imager and sounder satellites. Photo: ESA /P. Carril.

PARIS (BNS): The European Space Agency (ESA) on Thursday signed a contract with an industrial consortium for the development of the Meteosat Third Generation.

The contract will allow Thales Alenia Space of France along with OHB Technology of Germany to begin full design work on the Meteosat Third Generation (MTG) system.

According to a ESA news report, the MTG is being created through cooperation between Eumetsat and ESA to ensure continuity of high-resolution meteorological data beyond 2037.

The series will comprise six satellites: four MTG-I imaging and two MTG-S sounding satellites. The two types will be positioned over the same longitude in their geostationary orbits.

The sounding element, which also carries the Sentinel-4 payload for the Global Monitoring for Environment and Security programme as a guest payload, is a key innovation. For the first time, Meteosat satellites will not only image weather systems, but also analyse the atmosphere layer by layer and provide deeper insight into the complexities of its chemical composition, the report added.

Thales Alenia Space is the prime contractor and responsible for the MTG-I imaging satellite, including the primary Flexible Combined Imager. OHB will be working on the MTG-S satellite, supported by Astrium (DE) as the System Architect. The Infrared Sounding Instrument will be developed by Kayser Threde.