# Metop-SG-A1
*missions*

## Specifications
- **orbit type**: Sun-synchronous orbit, 835 km, 09:30 descending equator crossing
- **planned decommission**: 2034-12-31
- **current geographic priority**: Global polar-orbiting meteorology, climate and atmospheric composition
- **current status**: commissioning
- **operator**: eumetsat
- **actual launch**: 2025-08-13
- **tasking supported**: false
- **launch vehicle**: arianespace-ariane-6
- **entity type**: mission
- **last verified date**: 2026-06-14
- **verified by**: agency-doc
- **claim status**: agency-sourced
- **provider**: eumetsat

## Editorial
Metop-SG-A1 (Metop Second Generation A1) is the first satellite of the Metop Second Generation series, operated by EUMETSAT in partnership with ESA, and launched on 13 August 2025 into a sun-synchronous orbit at 835 km altitude with a 09:30 descending equator crossing time. The mission carries six atmospheric sounding and imaging instruments: IASI-NG (Infrared Atmospheric Sounding Interferometer Next Generation), METImage (visible/near-infrared multispectral imager), MWS (Microwave Sounder), 3MI (Multi-Viewing Multi-Channel Multi-Polarisation Imager), Sentinel-5 UVNS (ultraviolet-visible-near-infrared trace-gas sounder hosted for Copernicus), and an RO instrument for GNSS radio occultation. As of late 2025, WMO OSCAR lists the mission as in commissioning, with the RO instrument having reached operational status in May 2026. The payload stack enables atmospheric temperature and humidity profiling, microwave atmospheric sounding, sea surface temperature retrieval, broadband radiation budget measurement, multi-angle polarimetric aerosol characterisation, tropospheric trace-gas column retrieval (NO2, SO2), GNSS radio occultation profiling, and atmospheric motion vector derivation. Metop-SG-A1 is designed to operate until at least 2034. [^eumetsat-metop-sga1][^eumetsat-metop-sg-instruments][^eumetsat-metop-sga1-launch][^wmo-metop-sg-a1]

## Compositional position
- Metop-SG-A1 --[mission_payloads]--> iasi-ng (products)
- Metop-SG-A1 --[mission_payloads]--> metimage (products)
- Metop-SG-A1 --[mission_payloads]--> mws-microwave-sounder (products)
- Metop-SG-A1 --[mission_payloads]--> 3mi (products)
- Metop-SG-A1 --[mission_payloads]--> sentinel-5-uvns (products)
- Metop-SG-A1 --[mission_payloads]--> ro-metop-sg (products)
- Metop-SG-A1 --[related-topic]--> atmospheric-profiling (topics)
- Metop-SG-A1 --[related-topic]--> air-quality (topics)
- Metop-SG-A1 --[related-topic]--> ozone-stratosphere (topics)
- Metop-SG-A1 --[related-topic]--> sea-surface-temperature (topics)

## Sources
- [eumetsat-metop-sga1] | EUMETSAT Metop-SG A1 and Copernicus Sentinel-5 | https://www.eumetsat.int/metop-second-generation-a1-and-copernicus-sentinel-5 | tier=agency-doc | accessed=2026-06-14
- [eumetsat-metop-sg-instruments] | EUMETSAT Metop-SG instruments overview | https://www.eumetsat.int/metop-sg-instruments | tier=agency-doc | accessed=2026-06-14
- [eumetsat-metop-sga1-launch] | EUMETSAT Metop-SGA1 successful launch | https://www.eumetsat.int/successful-launch-metop-sga1-take-weather-forecasting-new-heights | tier=operator-press | accessed=2026-06-14
- [wmo-metop-sg-a1] | WMO OSCAR Metop-SG-A1 satellite record | https://space.oscar.wmo.int/satellites/view/metop_sg_a1 | tier=agency-doc | accessed=2026-06-14

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Source: https://eo-atlas.org/missions/metop-sg-a1
Maintainer: SpectraWorks B.V. (CC-BY 4.0)