EUMETSAT to exploit ESA-developed launchers and flight operations software
EUMETSAT expresses confidence in the next generation of European launchers.
Today, during the virtual meeting of the EUMETSAT Council, the Director-General, Alain Ratier, signed the Joint Statement on the Institutional Exploitation of Ariane 6 and Vega C in the presence of Johann-Dietrich Wörner, the Director General of the European Space Agency.
05 November 2024
02 December 2020
“EUMETSAT is already a long-standing customer of Ariane launch services. With this signature, we express our confidence in the next generation of European launchers and confirm our support for the European space strategy,” Ratier said.
The signature followed decisions of the EUMETSAT Council to convert Ariane-5 launch service contracts into Ariane-64 launch service contracts for two Meteosat Third Generation satellites (MTG-I2 and MTG-S1) and to consider Ariane-62 for launching the first Metop-Second Generation satellites.
During the same meeting, Ratier and Wörner signed a cooperation agreement in the field of flight operations.
The main purpose of the agreement is to facilitate the use of generic monitoring and control software developed by the ESA space operations centre (ESOC) and commercialised by industry across EUMETSAT satellite systems. The agreement also creates the framework for the identification of cooperation opportunities in the area of space weather.
“This agreement gives us visibility into the ESA development roadmap for next generation flight operations software that we plan to use in our future mission control systems, for our own and Copernicus missions, and offers opportunities for sharing experience of flight operations and engineering and maintenance of ground systems,” Ratier said.
ESA Director-General Johann-Dietrich Wörner said: “It is another very important step in the relationship between EUMETSAT and ESA, based on mutual trust and interest to cooperate.”
Both signings will create optimum conditions for EUMETSAT use of technology and systems developed under ESA programmes and commercialised by industry, one of the objectives of the joint statement on shared vision and common goals for joint contributions of ESA and EUMETSAT to the Space Strategy for Europe signed by Ratier and Wörner in 2017.
