28912 - METEOSAT-9 (MSG-2)

MSG-2 (Metosat Second Generation 2) is a European (ESA) geostationary weather satellite, with operational control by the EUMETSAT organization. It was launched by an Ariane 5G rocket from Kourou at 22:33 UT on 2005 December 21. The two-ton, spin-stabilized craft carries two main instruments. SEVIRI (Spinning Enhanced Visible and InfraRed Imager) will provide images taken in four visible and eight infrared channels every 15 minutes, at a resolution of one km in visible light and three km in infrared. GERB (Geostationary Earth Radiation Budget) will monitor the energy balance between the incoming solar flux, and the outgoing infrared radiation. The craft was renamed METEOSAT 9 when it became operational in June 2006, after parking over 0.0 degrees longitude. (There have been eight METEOSATs in the first generation Meteosat series.)

Alternate Names

Meteosat 9
Meteosat Second Generation 2

Facts in Brief

Launch Date: 2005-12-21
Launch Vehicle: Ariane 5GS
Launch Site: Kourou, French Guiana
Mass: 2000.0 kg