National Aeronautics and Space Administration

MetOp-B Satellite Illustration

Metop-B on the road to the launch site. Credit: Astrium

MetOp-B is the second of three European Space Agency (ESA) and European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites (EUMETSAT) weather satellites. It is the latest mission in a series of European polar orbiting satellites.

Under Interagency agreements with NOAA, NASA (GSFC) provides five POES heritage instruments AMSU-1, AMSU-2, AVHRR/3, HIRS/4 and SEM-2 in support of the MetOp B Mission.

MetOp-B Status Updates :

4/27/12 - L-TBD Days

• The POES/MetOp Project was informed that the launch of MetOp-B is delayed until further notice.

4/16/12 - L-41 Days

• TRR (Count-down rehearsal) was completed on Friday. The NIU and AVHRR and HIRS motors were powered on showing nominal values.

4/11/12 - L-46 Days

• ITT Exelis activities: Cleaning and Inspection of AVHRR and HIRS instruments were completed this morning prior to the start of first shift. ITT Exelis also completed the installation of the AVHRR sunshield.

4/09/12 - L-48 Days

• Logistics have been finalized for NASA/ITT to perform the final cleanings and inspection of the AVHRR and HIRS instruments tomorrow night during third shift.