Successful liftoff delivers Sentinel4 on MTG satellite to enhance atmospheric forecasting
by Erica Marchand
Paris, France (SPX) Jul 02, 2025
The European Space Agency has successfully launched the MTG-S1 satellite, marking the second deployment in the Meteosat Third Generation program and the first flight of the Copernicus Sentinel-4 instrument. The launch took place on Tuesday, 1 July, at 23:04 CEST via a SpaceX Falcon 9 from Cape Canaveral, Florida.
Now in geostationary orbit at 36,000 km above the equator, MTG-S1 is equipped with the Infrared Sounder, the first European hyperspectral sounding instrument in this orbital position. It will deliver atmospheric temperature and moisture profiles over Europe every 30 minutes, alongside hourly data on aerosols and trace gases like ozone, nitrogen dioxide and sulphur dioxide across Europe and Africa.
Mounted on MTG-S1, Sentinel-4’s UVN imaging spectrometer will focus on air quality over Europe and northern Africa. The instrument is designed to collect hourly data in the ultraviolet, visible, and near-infrared ranges, promising significant advancements in pollution monitoring and air quality forecasting.
Simonetta Cheli, ESA’s Director of Earth Observation Programmes, stated, “These two groundbreaking missions are set to change the way we forecast both severe weather and the quality of air over Europe…”
Phil Evans, Director General of Eumetsat, noted, “MTG-S1 will provide entirely new types of data products that will support specialists… Combined with data from the MTG imaging satellites it will, for the first time, offer a space-based view of the full lifecycle of convective storms…”
The launch proceeded as planned with the satellite acquiring signal at 23:39 CEST, followed by successful deployment of its solar arrays. This milestone confirms the mission has achieved a stable power supply.
MTG-S1 follows the earlier MTG-Imager (MTG-I) satellite. With its advanced infrared sensor using interferometric techniques, it delivers three-dimensional data on atmospheric properties, which enhances early detection of storm conditions and supports more accurate short-term forecasting.
James Champion, ESA’s MTG Project Manager, emphasized the importance of the mission, stating, “We now have very high expectations that the Infrared Sounder will indeed be a gamechanger for making more accurate and timely predictions of extreme weather…”
Prime contractor Thales Alenia Space led the MTG program, with OHB Systems responsible for the MTG-Sounder. Eumetsat oversees mission control and data dissemination.
The Sentinel-4 instrument, built by Airbus Defence and Space, extends the Copernicus Earth observation system. It detects multiple atmospheric pollutants and trace gases, complementing Sentinel-5 and Sentinel-5P missions in polar orbit.
Sentinel-4 also contributes to a global effort in geostationary air quality monitoring, joining Korea’s Gems sensor and NASA’s Tempo, which observe conditions over Asia and North America respectively.
ESA’s Sentinel-4 Project Manager, Giorgio Bagnasco, commented, “This mission has an incredibly sensitive and precise instrument, which will transform how we predict atmospheric pollution and understand air quality trends.”
MTG-S1 and Sentinel-4 together represent a significant leap in Europe’s space-based capability to monitor weather and environmental conditions in near real time.
Sentinel-4 is part of a coordinated international effort to ensure global atmospheric surveillance through high-frequency, regional-scale observations.
Research Report:MTG-S1 and Sentinel-4 launch to change how we see our atmosphere
Related Links
Meteosat Third Generation
Earth Observation News – Suppiliers, Technology and Application
