Ariane 6 completes first geostationary transfer orbit mission

(SpaceEnergy) Europe’s Ariane 6 has completed its first mission to geostationary transfer orbit, launching the Meteosat Third Generation Imager-2 weather satellite from French Guiana.

Flight VA270 lifted off from Europe’s Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana, at 22:11 CEST on 27 August. The mission was the ninth Ariane 6 launch and used the two-booster Ariane 62 configuration.

The flight marked the farthest destination reached by Ariane 6 and its first deployment to geostationary transfer orbit. The launcher used two P120C solid-propellant boosters, with ArianeGroup serving as Ariane 6 prime contractor and Arianespace as launch-service provider.

MTG-I2 will complete the first family of Meteosat Third Generation satellites operated by EUMETSAT. It will provide high-resolution atmospheric imagery over Europe and northern Africa, including rapid scans over Europe every 2.5 minutes for severe-weather forecasting.

Ariane 6 is designed to serve missions ranging from low Earth orbit to geostationary and exploration destinations, with two- and four-booster configurations providing different payload capabilities.