As this process began, roughly 800 kilometres above Lake Superior, the spin of the rocket stage turned the venting fuel into a widening spiral of glittering droplets, lit by the Sun peeking over the limb of the planet.
At that height above the surface, this glowing spiral was visible across a wide region, and would have been seen by anyone with clear skies who was looking up at the right time.
What is MetOp-SG-A1?
According to the European Space Agency, MetOp Second Generation A-1 is the first of two new weather satellites being launched into low-Earth orbit.
An artist’s rendition of the MetOp Second Generation A-1 satellite, flying in low-Earth orbit over a hurricane. (ESA/ATG medialab (CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO))
It carries a payload of six science instruments designed to provide temperature and humidity data for different levels of the atmosphere, at different wavelengths of the spectrum of light, as well as information on clouds, aerosols, ozone, and other trace gases. Also included is the Copernicus Sentinel-5 spectrometer, which will record data on air pollutants, ozone, and greenhouse gases.
Next year, sometime between June and August 2026, MetOp-SG-A1’s partner satellite, MetOp-SG-B1, is expected to launch with a slightly different, but complementary suite of instruments.
Together, they represent the first of three pairs of MetOp-SG satellites that will operate on this mission over the next 20 years.
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