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4. The satellite

MetOp will fly nominally at 820 km in a 5-day repeat orbit with an Equator descending crossing time at 9.30 am. It has been designed to be compatible for launch by Soyuz ST (in the process of being confirmed) or Ariane 5, with the possibility of sharing launch opportunities in the later. The three satellites of the series should span for an operational period of at least 14 years, with an expected life time of 5 years each.

Data will be continuously recorded on board and dumped to the acquisition station/s once per orbit for further processing and dissemination to users by Eumetsat within 2h 15 min. This will allow a global coverage, which will be completed every one to three days, depending on each instrument's swath. A direct broadcasting of data will also be possible via a high rate HRPT and a low rate LRPT link, thus allowing their exploitation mainly for now-casting purposes.

There are twelve ESA member states contributing to the development of the prototype satellite and some of the instruments on-board. The main contractor for the industrial consortium building the satellite is Matra Marconi Space (France). The industrial activities started in February 1998 and the prototype is expected to be ready for storage in 2003. The launch date is being

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