MSG

MSG (Meteosat Second Generation 1) was a European (EUMETSAT consortium) geostationary weather satellite.

The 3.2m diameter cylindrical satellite had a dry mass of about 1000 kg and carried about 1010 kg of propellant. MSG was to allow quicker and more accurate weather forecasts in Europe than in the past. It carried two major instruments.

• SEVIRI (Spinning Enhanced Visible and Infra-Red Imager) was a 12-channel imager that was to provide a set of surface and cloud-cover images every 15 minutes at a spatial resolution of 1 km. Four of the channels were in cloud- and soil-reflected visible wavelengths, four infrared channels were to measure temperature of clouds and sea-surface, and the remaining four infrared channels were to provide water vapor, ozone and carbon dioxide contents.

• GERB (Geostationary Earth Radiation Budget) measured the radiation coming from the Sun and the reflected/emitted radiation from the Earth to obtain the radiation balance.

The satellite also carried receivers for weather-data from remote/mobile sites, and a 406 MHz transponder for search-and-rescue SOS operations conducted by the global COSPAS-Surat organization.

Associated Launch Vehicle: Ariane 5G.

• 2002 August 28 - MSG 1 - Launch Site: Kourou. Launch Vehicle: Ariane 5G. Mass: 2,010 kg (4,430 lb). Perigee: 35,784 km (22,235 mi). Apogee: 35,790 km (22,230 mi). Inclination: 1.80 deg. Period: 1,436.10 min.

  Launch delayed from August 27. MSG 1 (Meteosat Second Generation 1) was a European (EUMETSAT consortium) geostationary weather satellite. After first being parked over 10° E longitude for six months it was later to be moved to zero degree longitude. As of 2007 Mar 7 located at 3.50W drifting at 0.015W degrees per day.

• 2005 December 21 - MSG 2 - Launch Site: Kourou. Launch Vehicle: Ariane 5G. Mass: 2,034 kg (4,484 lb). Perigee: 35,779 km (22,231 mi). Apogee: 35,793 km (22,240 mi). Inclination: 1.50 deg. Period: 1,436.10 min.

  Delayed from mid-February, March 15, June 2005. Meteosat Second Generation spin-stabilized weather satellite. As of 2007 Mar 10 located at 0.11W drifting at 0.024W degrees per day.

• McDowell, Jonathan, Jonathan's Space Report (Internet Newsletter), Harvard University, Weekly, 1989 to Present. Essential internet newsletter recording worldwide weekly space events. Accessed at: http://www.planet4589.org/jsr.html.

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