MetOp-Second Generation Satellites Powered by Beyond Gravity
First Spacecraft Scheduled for Launch Later This Month
The first of a new generation of polar-orbiting European weather satellites will be launched into space in mid-August. The MetOp-Second Generation satellite will lift off from the European spaceport in Kourou (South America) aboard the European launch vehicle Ariane 6. Beyond Gravity has supplied multiple components for the spacecraft.
“This new European weather satellite, together with its five counterparts, will significantly enhance weather forecasting accuracy and climate change monitoring."
Oliver Grassmann, Beyond Gravity
The weather satellite will measure humidity and temperature as well as aerosols. “This new European weather satellite, together with its five counterparts, will significantly enhance weather forecasting accuracy and climate change monitoring. A key element of this mission is our radio occultation instrument. Our so-called radio occultation instrument provides important weather data, for example about humidity and temperature, and underlines our capabilities as an important data provider”, says Oliver Grassmann, EVP Satellites at Beyond Gravity, a leading supplier to the institutional and commercial space industry. “Our products will be an integral part of the mission.”
In addition to the company’s instrument for radio occultation, Beyond Gravity provided the satellite’s primary structure, thermal insulation, and multiple products for the Ariane 6 launcher. The prime contractor for the satellite is Airbus Defence and Space in Toulouse.
Beyond Gravity’s radio occultation instrument flies on all six MetOp-Second Generation weather satellites. Radio occultation in space measures how radio signals from satellites bend as they pass through Earth’s atmosphere, helping understand weather, climate, and atmospheric conditions.
The six-meter-high structure of all these satellites was built at Beyond Gravity’s site in Zurich (Switzerland). Made of carbon fiber, aluminum, and titanium for critical connections, the structure weighs around one ton. The weather satellite is wrapped in thermal insulation from Beyond Gravity to protect it from the high temperature fluctuations of plus/minus 200 degrees Celsius in space, keeping the interior of the satellite at a constant room temperature, ensuring the smooth functioning of the instruments on board. The insulation consists of several layers of very thin metal-coated plastic and was produced in Berndorf, Austria.
Beyond Gravity’s site in Linköping (Sweden) provided the payload adapter system for Europe’s heavy-lift launcher Ariane 6. The payload adapter system connects the satellite and launcher during liftoff, then precisely releases the satellite into orbit once the proper altitude is reached.
The MetOp weather satellites orbit Earth from pole to pole and at an altitude of 832 km (≈517 miles). They can provide data on global coverage every few days and make detailed observations.