MTG-I2 joins Meteosat constellation to enhance weather forecasting in Europe

@TAS I | E.Briot

The Meteosat Third Generation Imager 2 (MTG-I2) satellite is now in orbit following its successful launch on August 27 aboard an Ariane 6 rocket from Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana. MTG-I2 now joins the MTG constellation, an EUMETSAT program developed in collaboration with the European Space Agency (ESA) that will enhance Europe’s weather observation capabilities with high-resolution imagery and data to improve extreme weather forecasting and climate monitoring. GMV contributed to this milestone by delivering critical ground segment systems that enable mission control and operations.

As part of the MTG program, GMV developed the mission operations facility (MOF), which integrates the core ground segment systems responsible for commanding and controlling the new generation of geostationary satellites. These include the mission control system (MCS), mission planning system (MPS), flight dynamics system (FDS), and operations preparation system (OPRE).

In addition, GMV is involved in payload processing activities. In the initial phase, the company was responsible for developing processing prototypes and instrument simulators (instrument quality tools, or IQTs), and later developed a significant portion of the operational processing chain (instrument data processing facility, or IDPF). These developments are complemented by tools for operations automation, mission preparation, and configuration management, further strengthening GMV’s contribution to one of Europe’s most advanced meteorological infrastructures.

MTG-I2 carries two state-of-the-art instruments: the Lightning Imager, which continuously monitors lightning activity in storms from geostationary orbit, and the Flexible Combined Imager, designed to capture images of rapidly evolving weather systems at frequent intervals. These capabilities are particularly valuable for issuing early weather warnings and supporting critical applications such as air traffic safety.

With the addition of MTG-I2, the Meteosat Third Generation constellation now has three satellites in service, alongside the first MTG-Imager and the MTG-Sounder. The new satellite will provide an unprecedented level of detail, significantly increasing the quality, volume, and frequency of meteorological data available for Europe and North Africa. This enhanced capability will enable meteorological services to forecast severe weather more accurately, improve numerical weather prediction, and deliver new products and services across a wide range of sectors.

Once fully operational, the MTG constellation is expected to generate at least 50 times more data than the previous Meteosat Second Generation (MSG) satellites.