CANNES: On Wednesday, Europe revealed the first satellite in a family of four that will cost four billion euros ($four billion) and be used to provide earlier warning of the catastrophic weather that has been wreaking havoc on the planet this year.
The MTG-I1 satellite will be deployed before the end of this year on an Ariane 5 rocket and will provide sharper eyes in orbit across Europe and Africa as the culmination of 12 years of development for the European Space Agency and 30-nation EUMETSAT.
In addition to the two MTG-S “sounding” satellites that can slice the atmosphere like a medical scanner, three additional MTG-I imaging satellites and the 3.8-tonne spacecraft will be joined in geostationary orbit by the latter two.
