The MetOp-B weather satellite will be launched in Kazakhstan, on the 23rd of May 2012, to provide essential data for weather forecasting and climate monitoring. The sophisticated craft carries a host of sensitive instruments to provide key information on temperature and humidity, wind speed and direction over oceans, ozone and other atmospheric gases for numerical weather prediction and climate monitoring. MetOp-B arrived at the Baikonur Cosmodrome on 6 March after being transported from Toulouse, France on an Antonov cargo aircraft. The engine will be launched on a Soyuz rocket with a Fregat upper stage. With MetOp-A still in service, the two satellites will orbit in tandem, increasing the wealth of data even further. The space weather forecasting tools were developed as a joint undertaking between ESA and Eumetsat.

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European surfers get new weather satellite

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