Welcome !

View of a 1:1 scale mock up of MSG-3 exhibited at the Nice Airport

This blog will report, as from begining of April 2012, about the MSG-3  launch campaign that will take place at the Centre Spatial Guyannais (CSG*) in Kourou, French Guiana.

MSG stands for Meteosat Second Generation. It is a family of four identical spacecrafts aiming at weather forecast.

• Two have already been launched: MSG-1 on 28 August 2002 and MSG-2 on 22 December 2005.  They are today fully operational but of course ageing after almost 10 years in space for MSG-1
• MSG-3 (identified as Meteosat-10) is the third exemplar of the MSG family. It is planned to be launched mid june 2012 to ensure the continuity of service together with MSG-2 after MSG-1 "retirement"
•  MSG-4 is the last member of the MSG family. The satellite is already manufactured and is  in storage at the moment. The launch will be planned in the future in order to optimally bridge with the next Meteosat generation: MTG (Metosat Third Generation) that should be ready by end of the decade.

All MSG spacecrafts have been built by the THALES group and its branch located in Cannes, France.

This blog is informal and is intended to support families, colleagues, friends  and fans of MSG-3 who will follow the launch campaign from remote.

Important: Official information related to MSG-3 will be released in due time by ESA and EUMETSAT the owner of the Spacecraft.

See you all soon !

K.B.

*The CSG is operated by CNES , Arianespace (AE) and ESA.

Updates:
7/3/2012, ESA, MSG-3 satellite ready to continue weather-monitoring service
15/03/2012, BBC, Europe's latest weather eye set for launch
29/03/2012, From Thales: MSG-3 in clean room at Cannes ready to go!

Credits: Thales

04/04/2012, First members of the Launch Campaign team arrived in Kourou