Meteosat Third Generation Sounder 1 (MTG-S1)

MTG-S1 (Meteosat Third Generation Sounder 1) is a geostationary atmospheric sounding and air-quality monitoring satellite operated by EUMETSAT, with Thales Alenia Space as spacecraft prime and OHB Systems responsible for the sounder platform. Launched on 1 July 2025, the satellite operates in geostationary orbit at approximately 36,000 km altitude with primary coverage over Europe and northern Africa. MTG-S1 carries the InfraRed Sounder (IRS), a high-spectral-resolution Fourier transform spectrometer designed for atmospheric temperature and humidity profiling and wind retrieval from geostationary orbit, and the Sentinel-4 UVN instrument, an ultraviolet-visible-near-infrared sounder for tropospheric trace-gas monitoring as a Copernicus contribution. As of mid-2026, the mission is in commissioning; WMO OSCAR estimated a service-start date of April 2026 for the IRS and Sentinel-4 instruments, though routine operational service had not been confirmed in tier-1 sources as of the research date. MTG-S1 addresses atmospheric profiling, weather nowcasting, and air-quality monitoring over Europe and northern Africa. ^{[1][2][3][4][5]}