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Meteosat-6 re-orbited (Forwarded)



 
 
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Old April 18th 11, 06:49 PM posted to sci.space.news
Andrew Yee[_1_]
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Default Meteosat-6 re-orbited (Forwarded)

European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites
Darmstadt, Germany

April 15, 2011

Meteosat-6 re-orbited

After more than 17 years of service, Meteosat-6 -- the longest operating
Meteosat First Generation satellite -- was moved to a graveyard orbit on 15
April, 2011.

Meteosat-6 was launched on November 20, 1993, from Kourou, French Guiana.
Its main onboard instrument is the Meteosat Visible and InfraRed Imager
(MVIRI) with three spectral bands, which enabled it to fulfil its primary
task of mapping the distribution of clouds and water vapour from
geostationary orbit.

Originally designed for a 5-year operational lifespan, Meteosat-6 has
surpassed all expectations and become the record holder for the longest
operating Meteosat satellite by providing meteorological data for more than
17 years.

Meteosat-6's fuel was almost depleted, signalling the end of the satellite's
operational life and the necessity for a re-orbit -- a process that involves
moving it further away from the Earth and out of the way of other satellites
in geostationary orbit. The move to a graveyard orbit also serves as means
to lower the probability of collisions with operational spacecraft and
thereby help prevent the generation of space debris.

Milan Klinc, Spacecraft and Flight Dynamics Engineer said, "One of the most
important periods for Meteosat-6 was between September 2001 and January 2007
when it was the first Meteosat satellite to provide a rapid scanning service
over Europe, delivering more frequent data over a smaller region. The
service was a success with the user community as for the first time it meant
that image data covering the European region could be provided every 10
minutes. The Meteosat-6 Rapid Scanning Service (RSS) also played a
significant role in preparing the user community for Meteosat Second
Generation (MSG) services, by offering higher frequency data over Europe.
Meteosat-6 also served as backup to Meteosat-8 (MSG-1) for severe weather
monitoring over Europe, until the launch of MSG-2 in December 2005."

"In 2007, Meteosat-6 was moved to cover the Indian Ocean with Meteosat-7
where, until recently, it provided an important service relaying data from
Data Collection Platforms (DCPs), such as buoys, in support of the Tsunami
Warning System for the Indian Ocean."

"The re-orbiting process involved moving the satellite approximately 380 km
higher than its current position, after which the rotation speed of
Meteosat-6 was reduced and all energy sources on board were removed by
dumping the remaining fuel, discharging the batteries and venting out the
pressurant gas in the fuel tanks in order to fulfil the international rules
on space debris mitigation."

Meteosat-7, situated at 57.5 deg E, will continue to provide its current
IODC [Indian Ocean Data Coverage] service at least until 2013.

IMAGE CAPTION:
[http://www.eumetsat.int/groups/ops/d..._ir_final.jpg]
Last Meteosat-6 image taken on 11/04/2011 19:30 UTC, in IR (top) and WV
(bottom).

[NOTE: An image of Meteosat-6 is available at
http://www.eumetsat.int/groups/ops/d...ge_medium1.jpg ]

 




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