A new European weather satellite promises to ensure the continuity and reliability of high-quality imagery data necessary for tracking tropical storms and other severe weather phenomena. MSG-2—the second leg in Eumet-sat's 2-billion-euro ($2.4-billion) second-generation geostationary weather forecasting system—blasted off from the European spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana, on Dec. 21 on an Ariane 5 booster, along with Insat 4A, the largest telecommunications spacecraft to be orbited by India. Launch and early operations phase activities were handled by the ESOC mission control center here owned by the European Space Agency, which oversees development and procurement on behalf of Eumetsat.
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