European satellite to step up monitoring of extreme weather

Kourou: The Ariane 6 rocket on Wednesday blasted off carrying Europe s next generation satellite for warning against extreme weather events. As man...

Kourou: The Ariane 6 rocket on Wednesday blasted off carrying Europe's next generation satellite for warning against extreme weather events.

As many European countries simmer in a deadly heatwave, the European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites (EUMETSAT) said its MetOp-SGA1 satellite will give "earlier warnings to help protect lives and property from extreme weather".

"Metop-SGA1 observations will help meteorologists improve short- and medium-term weather models that can save lives by enabling early warnings of storms, heatwaves, and other disasters, and help farmers to protect crops, grid operators to manage energy supply, and pilots and sailors to navigate safely," the agency added.

The rocket carrying the four-tonne satellite took off from France's Kourou space base in French Guyana. MetOp-SGA1 was to be put into an 800 kilometre (500 mile) high orbit.

It will be Europe's first contribution to a US-led programme, the Joint Polar System, putting up satellites orbiting between the north and south poles.