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- The MetOp-A satellite, developed by a consortium of European companies led by the main contractor EADS-Astrium, France, builds on the heritage gained from a successful series of European satellites, including the French Space Agency's (CNES) SPOT and ESA'S ERS and Envisat. The satellite consists of a Solar Array and two modules: the Payload Module (PLM) and the Service Module (SVM). The PLM accommodates the whole suite of instruments and associated support equipment. It includes advanced versions of the widely used scatterometer and ozone-monitoring instruments already flying onboard the ERS-2 satellite. The SVM, which interfaces with the launcher, provides the main satellite support functions, such as command and control, communications with the ground, power and orbit control and propulsion. MetOp-A carries a set of 'heritage' instruments, provided by the United States National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the French Space Agency (CNES), and a new generation of European instruments offering precise sensing capabilities to both meteorologists and climatologists. http://www.esa.int/esaLP/LPmetop.html
[Summary from the ESA MetOp Meteorological Missions home page]
Group: Platform_Details Entry_ID: METOP-A Group: Platform_Identification Platform_Category: Earth Observation Satellites Platform_Series_or_Entity: METOP Short_Name: METOP-A Long_Name: Meteorological Operational Satellite - A End_Group Group: Platform_Associated_Instruments Short_Name: SARR Short_Name: SEM-2 Short_Name: A-DCS Short_Name: AVHRR-3 Short_Name: HIRS/4 Short_Name: AMSU-B Short_Name: AMSU-A Short_Name: GOME-2 Short_Name: ASCAT Short_Name: GRAS Short_Name: MHS Short_Name: IASI End_Group Group: Orbit Orbit_Type: LEO > Low Earth Orbit > Polar Sun-Synchronous End_Group Online_Resource: http://www.esa.int/esaLP/LPmetop.html Group: Platform_Logistics Launch_Date: 2006-10-19 Launch_Site: Baikonur Cosmodrome, Tyuratam, Russia Primary_Sponsor: ESA End_Group End_Group
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