Arianespace to Launch EUMETSAT's Metop-SGA1 Satellite on August 12, 2025, with Ariane 6
On August 12, 2025 at 9:37 p.m. local time (00:37 a.m. UTC, 2:37 a.m. CEST, on August 13), Arianespace will launch EUMETSAT's Metop-SGA1 satellite with Ariane 6 from Europe's Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana.
The mission, designated VA264, will be the second commercial flight for Ariane 6, the new European heavy-lift launcher. It will place its passenger, the Metop-SGA1 satellite, into Sun-Synchronous Orbit (SSO) at an altitude of around 800 km. Spacecraft separation will occur 1 hour and 4 minutes after lift-off.
The Metop-SGA1 (Second Generation A1) satellite will be the first of the next generation of European polar-orbiting weather satellites. Metop-SGA1 will host a total of six atmospheric sounding and imaging instrument missions that will provide optical, infrared, and microwave observations essential data for weather forecasting, climate monitoring, and a wide range of other services and applications. Amongst its hosts, Metop-SGA1 will carry the new Sentinel-5 atmospheric monitoring mission, part of the European Commission's Copernicus programme.
The satellite will take global observation of weather and climate from a polar orbit to a new level, providing high resolution observations of temperature, precipitation, clouds, winds, sea ice, aerosols, pollution, soil moisture, volcanic dust, and a multitude of other parameters.
The spacecraft was built by Airbus Defence and Space, under a contract with the European Space Agency, and will be operated throughout its lifetime by EUMETSAT, that will also distribute its data to users.
The VA264 launch at a glance:
355th launch by Arianespace
3rd Ariane 6 launch and 2nd commercial flight
15th satellite launched by Arianespace for EUMETSAT
151st spacecraft built by Airbus Defence and Space launched by Arianespace
21st meteorological satellite launched by Arianespace