Initiated immediately after the satellite's separation from SpaceX’s Falcon 9 launcher, the LEOP activities were carried out continuously for 17 days by Telespazio's operations teams from the Fucino Space Centre in Abruzzo, Italy.
As with MTG-I1, launched in December 2022, the LEOP activities were managed by Telespazio for EUMETSAT. In total, around 130 people were involved in this strategic phase, including specialists from EUMETSAT, ESA, OHB, and Thales Alenia Space, working 24/7 from Telespazio’s Mission Control Centre in Fucino and from Thales Alenia Space’s Backup Control Centre in Cannes.
On Friday, July 18, the Meteosat Third Generation MTG-S1 satellite reached its final orbit and was handed over to EUMETSAT. It will now undergo in-orbit testing before beginning its mission of monitoring the Earth’s atmosphere from an altitude of 36,000 km.
"The successful completion of the orbit injection operations for the second Meteosat Third Generation satellite confirms Telespazio's expertise and reliability in space mission operations. We are proud that EUMETSAT has once again entrusted our company with the management of critical activities for the success of missions that deliver essential data for weather forecasting and atmospheric studies."
Andrea Cardellicchio, Head of Operations at Telespazio.