CGS SpA Compagnia Generale per lo Spazio, and Airbus Defence and Space GmbH have signed the contract for the realization of the MicroWave Imager (MWI) instrument for the MetOp Second Generation (SG) weather satellites. The contract follows a successful preliminary design activity, the selection of all subcontractors and the price conversion to firm fixed for the realization phase.
The MicroWave Imager is a sophisticated instrument that will be installed on board the Satellite B series and will allow to provide Europe’s National Meteorological Services and by extension, the international users and Science Community with unprecedented and high-value data for meteorological and climate monitoring. CGS is responsible for the design and the development of the MWI instrument, from Phase B2 to the final in-orbit verification of three flight models, to be supplied to Airbus DS GmbH, the prime contractor of the MetOp-SG Satellite B.
“With the responsibility for this important instrument of these satellites, CGS confirms its role as expert for sophisticated space-systems”, said Roberto Aceti, Managing Director of CGS, and complemented, ““”we are delighted to contribute to the success of the MetOp-Second Generation project. The scientific information that will be provided by the MicroWave Imager with extremely high radiometric accuracy will lead to an outstanding improvement of weather forecasts and a better understanding of climate changes.”
The MetOp-SG satellites will constitute the space segment of the EUMETSAT Polar System Second Generation (EPS-SG) programme that consists of two series of satellites, the so-called “Satellite A” and “Satellite B” fleet, with a nominal baseline of three units each. MetOp-SG satellites are developed as a cooperative undertaking between the European Space Agency (ESA) and the European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites (EUMETSAT).
