Europe Ariane 6 rocket launches a weather satellite
The Ariane 6 took off at 8:37 p.m. EDT from Europe's Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana, in its third-ever launch, carrying the Metop-SGA1.
"The mission as a whole not only ensures the continued delivery of global observations from polar orbit for weather forecasting and climate analysis for more than 20 years, but also offers enhanced accuracy and resolution compared to the original MetOp mission -- along with new measurement capabilities to expand its scientific reach," The European Space Agency posted on its website.
The Metop-SGA1 will use six onboard instruments to gather an assortment of weather and climate data, across 7.5 years.
It will eventually be joined by five other satellites to form the Metop Second Generation constellation.
"The satellite will take global observation of weather and climate from a polar orbit to a new level, providing high-resolution observations of temperature, precipitation, clouds, winds, sea ice, aerosols, pollution, soil moisture, volcanic dust and a multitude of other parameters," according to Arianespace representatives.
The liftoff was the 355th for Arianespace and the company's EUMETSAT 21st meteorological satellite to be sent to space.
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