Eleven minutes after the first signal, MTG-I2 separated from the launcher and automatically began activation operations, including deploying its solar panels and charging its batteries. The joint Telespazio-EUMETSAT-ESA-Industry LEOP team is now guiding the satellite through its ascent phase, which — through four engine burns — will take MTG-I2 from its initial elliptical orbit, with a perigee of 250 km, to its final geostationary orbit at 36,000 km from Earth, consuming roughly 1,450 kg of the 2.1 tonnes of fuel on board.
Radio contact will be ensured throughout the ascent by a global network of antennas, from Malindi in Kenya to Santiago, Chile, from Yatharagga and Dongara in Australia to South Point, Hawaii. The LEOP phase is scheduled to conclude on 8 September, when the satellite, having reached its geostationary slot, will turn its Earth observation instruments and antennas towards the Earth, before its commissioning can start at EUMETSAT's control centre in Darmstadt.
The launch crowns nine years of preparation by Telespazio's engineers, beginning in May 2017 with the development and validation of around 600 flight procedures together with programme partners Thales Alenia Space and OHB, as well as design and implementation of the LEOP ground segment. It marks the company's third milestone in the MTG programme, following the launches of MTG-I1 on 13 December 2022 and MTG-S1 on 1 July 2025. Around forty Telespazio engineers are involved in around the clock operations until the end of LEOP: 15 engineers from the Satellite Control Team located in Fucino monitor and analyse telemetry and send telecommands, while the Flight Dynamics and Ground Station Network teams handle attitude and orbital manoeuvre calculations and ground antenna coordination respectively.
Subsidiaries Telespazio Germany and Telespazio France also contributed to the launch readiness. Telespazio Germany supported mission preparation and the transition to early operations and the commissioning phase, working closely with EUMETSAT and partner teams. The German team helped prepare and validate MTG-I2's Mission Control System, took part in end-to-end tests and launch rehearsals, and contributed systems engineering and quality assurance work — as well as developing, building on experience gained with MTG-I1, the PIQMICS toolset for commissioning the Flexible Combined Imager (FCI) and the Lightning Imager (LI).
Telespazio France, meanwhile, handled the operational qualification of SETTERS, CNES's telemetry centralisation system, along the stations on the launch's eastern trajectory — successfully qualified at Natal (Brazil), Ascension, Libreville (Gabon) and Malindi (Kenya). The planning teams prepared over 1,500 operations.
A joint effort between EUMETSAT and ESA, the Meteosat Third Generation programme will ensure continuity of Earth observation data for weather forecasting and climate monitoring for the next twenty years, with six satellites in total — four Imaging (MTG-I) and two Sounding (MTG-S).
Telespazio has been involved in the MTG programme since its inception, mainly in the design, implementation and management of the ground station network for commissioning and routine satellite operations and payload data reception. In addition to the Fucino station, this includes the station at the Lario Space Centre in Como, the Swiss station at Leuk operated by partner Signalhorn, the Cheia station in Romania run by subsidiary Rartel, and EUMETSAT headquarters in Darmstadt.
Thales Alenia Space, a joint venture between Thales (67%) and Leonardo (33%), has been prime contractor for three generations of Meteosat satellites since the launch of the first flight model in 1977. The company has built seven first-generation Meteosat satellites, four second-generation satellites, and is currently leading the development of the six third-generation satellites.