Latest news with #lowearthorbit
BreakingNews.ie
12-08-2025
- Climate
- BreakingNews.ie
Satellites project could help ‘save lives' and give extreme weather warnings
A series of satellites are set to be launched into space over the next 15 years to help 'save lives' and give early warning of increasingly extreme weather, experts have said. The Metop Second Generation project aims to make weather forecasting more accurate by providing more detailed information for prediction models which will feed into Met Éireann data. Advertisement The first satellite, Metop-SG A1, will be launched from French Guiana on Wednesday and start collecting data on weather patterns next year. The European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites (EUMetSat) and the European Space Agency are leading the project, which will see six satellites sent into a low-earth orbit. The project hopes to improve short-range and long-term forecasts, which will also help scientists monitor increasingly extreme weather across the world. It's #MetopSGA1 LAUNCH DAY! 🚀 Teams at the European Spaceport in Kourou are making final preparations for lift off at 21:37 local time (00:37 UTC, 02:37 CEST on August 13). 🛰️ Stay tuned with us for updates - night owls, watch the action live here: — EUMETSAT (@eumetsat) August 12, 2025 Phil Evans, director general of EUMetSat, said the new satellites would help to save lives by predicting increasingly extreme weather before it happens. Advertisement He said: 'Extreme weather has cost Europe hundreds of billions of euros and tens of thousands of lives over the past 40 years — storms like Boris, Daniel and Hans, record heatwaves and fierce wildfires are just the latest reminders. 'The launch of Metop-SG A1 is a major step forward in giving national weather services in our member states sharper tools to save lives, protect property and build resilience against the climate crisis.' Once in use, the satellites could see improved forecasts for up to 10 days ahead in Europe and worldwide. The data can also help short-range forecasts and enable experts to spot tell-tale signs of early storm development and other high-impact weather events, especially those at higher latitudes. Advertisement On the satellite will be a tracker called the Copernicus Sentinel 5 mission, which will primarily be used for monitoring air quality and long-term climate monitoring. The satellite will station itself about 800km above the Earth and complete one full orbit every 100 minutes, passing close to the north and south poles – enabling it to take images of the entire globe over the course of the day. As well as imaging, the satellite will use other equipment like sounders in order to collect data on temperature, precipitation, clouds, winds, pollution and other factors to predict weather. 🤝There they stand. 📷First views of #Ariane6 on the launch pad. 🚀 Flight #VA264 will take Metop-SG-A1 and Copernicus Sentinel-5 to orbit ✅Launch readiness review: GO ☁️Weather looks good 📅Liftoff 13 August 02:37 CEST 🔴Watch live: — ESA Space Transport (@ESA_transport) August 12, 2025 This information will be fed back to stations and weather agencies such as Met Éireann. Advertisement This will be 'absolutely vital' for weather forecasters, said Simon Keogh, head of space applications at the UK Met Office. He said: 'We know how important satellite data is for forecast accuracy, with around a quarter of existing accuracy coming from this source. 'The next generation of these satellites is important not only for maintaining existing accuracy as old systems go offline, but also for enhancing observations for the next generation of weather forecasts. 'This project is absolutely vital as we make sure we can continue to deliver more accurate forecasts for the next five days and beyond.' Advertisement The world experienced its third-warmest July on record this year, experts said, with heat and deadly floods throughout the month.
Yahoo
12-08-2025
- Climate
- Yahoo
Satellites project could help ‘save lives' and give extreme weather warnings
A series of satellites are set to be launched into space over the next 15 years to help 'save lives' and give early warning of increasingly extreme weather, experts have said. The Metop Second Generation project aims to make weather forecasting more accurate by providing more detailed information for prediction models which will feed into Met Office data. The first satellite, Metop-SG A1, will be launched from French Guiana on Wednesday and start collecting data on weather patterns next year. The European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites (EUMetSat) and the European Space Agency are leading the project, which will see six satellites sent into a low-earth orbit. The project hopes to improve short-range and long-term forecasts, which will also help scientists monitor increasingly extreme weather across the world. Phil Evans, director general of EUMetSat, said the new satellites would help to save lives by predicting increasingly extreme weather before it happens. He said: 'Extreme weather has cost Europe hundreds of billions of euros and tens of thousands of lives over the past 40 years — storms like Boris, Daniel and Hans, record heatwaves and fierce wildfires are just the latest reminders. 'The launch of Metop-SG A1 is a major step forward in giving national weather services in our member states sharper tools to save lives, protect property and build resilience against the climate crisis.' Once in use, the satellites could see improved forecasts for up to 10 days ahead in Europe and worldwide. The data can also help short-range forecasts and enable experts to spot tell-tale signs of early storm development and other high-impact weather events, especially those at higher latitudes. On the satellite will be a tracker called the Copernicus Sentinel 5 mission, which will primarily be used for monitoring air quality and long-term climate monitoring. The satellite will station itself about 800km above the Earth and complete one full orbit every 100 minutes, passing close to the north and south poles – enabling it to take images of the entire globe over the course of the day. As well as imaging, the satellite will use other equipment like sounders in order to collect data on temperature, precipitation, clouds, winds, pollution and other factors to predict weather. This information will be fed back to stations such as the newly-installed satellite tracking dish at the Met Office headquarters in Exeter. This will be 'absolutely vital' for weather forecasters, said Simon Keogh, head of space applications at the Met Office. He said: 'We know how important satellite data is for forecast accuracy, with around a quarter of existing accuracy coming from this source. 'The next generation of these satellites is important not only for maintaining existing accuracy as old systems go offline, but also for enhancing observations for the next generation of weather forecasts. 'This project is absolutely vital as we make sure we can continue to deliver more accurate forecasts for the next five days and beyond.' UK science minister Lord Vallance said: 'Our weather is becoming more extreme and more unpredictable. This launch is the latest result of the UK investing with European partners to bolster weather predictions so we can keep up with our changing climate. 'Harnessing the world-class insights from this satellite will improve our ability to predict high-impact weather events even earlier. This will protect our infrastructure, our economy and save lives, keeping our plan for change on track.' On Tuesday, the fourth heatwave of the summer was announced, with organisations issuing amber health warnings and a possible risk to life from the high temperatures. The world experienced its third-warmest July on record this year, experts said, with heat and deadly floods throughout the month.
The Independent
12-08-2025
- Climate
- The Independent
Satellites project could help ‘save lives' and give extreme weather warnings
A series of satellites are set to be launched into space over the next 15 years to help 'save lives' and give early warning of increasingly extreme weather, experts have said. The Metop Second Generation project aims to make weather forecasting more accurate by providing more detailed information for prediction models which will feed into Met Office data. The first satellite, Metop-SG A1, will be launched from French Guiana on Wednesday and start collecting data on weather patterns next year. The European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites (EUMetSat) and the European Space Agency are leading the project, which will see six satellites sent into a low-earth orbit. The project hopes to improve short-range and long-term forecasts, which will also help scientists monitor increasingly extreme weather across the world. Phil Evans, director general of EUMetSat, said the new satellites would help to save lives by predicting increasingly extreme weather before it happens. He said: 'Extreme weather has cost Europe hundreds of billions of euros and tens of thousands of lives over the past 40 years — storms like Boris, Daniel and Hans, record heatwaves and fierce wildfires are just the latest reminders. 'The launch of Metop-SG A1 is a major step forward in giving national weather services in our member states sharper tools to save lives, protect property and build resilience against the climate crisis.' Once in use, the satellites could see improved forecasts for up to 10 days ahead in Europe and worldwide. The data can also help short-range forecasts and enable experts to spot tell-tale signs of early storm development and other high-impact weather events, especially those at higher latitudes. On the satellite will be a tracker called the Copernicus Sentinel 5 mission, which will primarily be used for monitoring air quality and long-term climate monitoring. The satellite will station itself about 800km above the Earth and complete one full orbit every 100 minutes, passing close to the north and south poles – enabling it to take images of the entire globe over the course of the day. As well as imaging, the satellite will use other equipment like sounders in order to collect data on temperature, precipitation, clouds, winds, pollution and other factors to predict weather. This information will be fed back to stations such as the newly-installed satellite tracking dish at the Met Office headquarters in Exeter. This will be 'absolutely vital' for weather forecasters, said Simon Keogh, head of space applications at the Met Office. He said: 'We know how important satellite data is for forecast accuracy, with around a quarter of existing accuracy coming from this source. 'The next generation of these satellites is important not only for maintaining existing accuracy as old systems go offline, but also for enhancing observations for the next generation of weather forecasts. 'This project is absolutely vital as we make sure we can continue to deliver more accurate forecasts for the next five days and beyond.' UK science minister Lord Vallance said: 'Our weather is becoming more extreme and more unpredictable. This launch is the latest result of the UK investing with European partners to bolster weather predictions so we can keep up with our changing climate. 'Harnessing the world-class insights from this satellite will improve our ability to predict high-impact weather events even earlier. This will protect our infrastructure, our economy and save lives, keeping our plan for change on track.' On Tuesday, the fourth heatwave of the summer was announced, with organisations issuing amber health warnings and a possible risk to life from the high temperatures. The world experienced its third-warmest July on record this year, experts said, with heat and deadly floods throughout the month.
Yahoo
21-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Macron says Europe must become 'space power' again
President Emmanuel Macron said Friday that Europe must again become a global space power, warning that France risked being squeezed out of the global low-orbit satellite constellation market. Macron spoke at the Paris Air Show in Le Bourget outside the French capital a day after France more than doubled its stake in satellite operator Eutelsat, the EU rival to Elon Musk's Starlink. Macron called for more investment as the European space industry struggles to remain competitive in the face of US and Chinese rivals. "SpaceX has disrupted the market, Amazon is also getting involved. China is not far behind, and I think we all need to be very clear-headed," Macron said. Europe must become "a space power once again, with France at its heart", he said. He warned that Europeans were "on the verge of being completely" squeezed out of the low Earth orbit (LEO) satellite constellation market. Orbiting just a few hundred kilometres above the Earth, low Earth orbit satellite networks can play a crucial role in various fields including telecommunications, emergency response, space exploration, and defence. Growing geopolitical tensions have forced countries to focus on the independence of their satellite infrastructure. Macron said France and its partners should not be reliant on non-European constellations in low orbit, calling it "madness". He called non-European players to team up with France. "This must be the solution for our major strategic partners in the Gulf, India, Canada and Brazil," he said. "We really need to succeed in increasing our collective investment effort," Macron added, noting the importance of private investors and public-private collaboration. He also said France planned to organise a space summit in early 2026 to "mobilise our public and private partners across the globe." As part of the overall deal with other investors worth 1.35 billion euros ($1.5 billion), the French state is set to become Eutelsat's largest shareholder. The European satellite operator is vying to be seen as an alternative to Starlink, as companies in Europe and elsewhere look askance at Musk's manoeuvrings and seek to secure sovereign solutions. Boasting more than 600 satellites since merging with British firm OneWeb in 2023, Eutelsat is the world's second-largest operator of low Earth orbit satellites, behind Starlink. fff-tq-as/ekf/js
