Europe’s Ariane 6 heavy-lift rocket launched for the third time ever tonight (Aug. 12), sending a complicated climate and local weather satellite tv for pc to orbit.
The highly effective Ariane 6 lifted off from Europe’s Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana at present at 8:37 p.m. EDT (9:37 p.m. native time in Kourou; 0037 GMT on Aug. 13).
Ariane 6, the successor to the lately retired Ariane 5, is operated by the French firm Arianespace on behalf of the European Space Agency. The rocket debuted with a check flight in July 2024 and flew once more this previous March, efficiently sending a French spy satellite to Earth orbit on the rocket’s first-ever industrial mission.
Flight quantity three occured tonight. The payload this time was Metop-SGA1, an 8,900-pound (4,040-kilogram) climate satellite tv for pc that will probably be operated by the worldwide group EUMETSAT (European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites).
Ariane 6 deployed Metop-SGA1 into a polar orbit about 500 miles (800 kilometers) above Earth 64 minutes after liftoff tonight as deliberate, Arianespace announced via X.
After a checkout interval, the satellite tv for pc will begin utilizing its six onboard devices to collect quite a lot of climate and local weather knowledge. It can proceed to take action throughout its operational life anticipated to final 7.5 years.
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