Image of the week: Happy birthday Meteosat-12

This image of the satellite on board the Ariane 5 rocket was taken in Korou, French Guiana, at 21:30 CET.

Data from its suite of state-of-the-art instruments will make it possible to better monitor and forecast rapidly developing high-impact weather events. Pre-operational data from the Lightning Imager became available in July 2024, followed by the first operational data, which was released on 31 October.

The MTG satellites are in a geostationary orbit at an altitude of 36,000km, and consist of three satellites: two imaging satellites and one sounding satellite. The first sounding satellite in the series is set to be launched in 2025.