programme phases, 1969-1972 preparatory phase The first time Meteosat was seriously considered as part of the European Space Research Or At that time there was a [04] problem. It was for further Meteosat decided study that in the that study a user should community, be devoted which to a could sateld - the distribution of the Earth's cloud cover, - atmospheric temperature profile sounding. As early as in 1969, the [05] Director." General (DG) to ESRO, Sir Hermann Bondi, could state that "w From this modest start in 1969, things started to move the following years, but it would take unti In the meantime, ESRO [06] continued. to study the various technical and mission related problems. back-cover esro/eldo bulletin of august 1973, listing the member states of both organ (select esro/eldo bulletin from the navigation menu to see the enlarged picture) 1 / 6
video - showing (animated sequence): spin-up of satellite to 100rpm, release of the radiometer cover and principle of operatio As the planned mission had been clearly defined in 1969 by the AHMG, activities in 1970 concentra placing of a series of contracts with European industry. The purpose of these contracts was to The results of these studies were merged by ESRO in a Report entitled "Study of a European After the theme of the study proposed by the AHMG at its first meeting in 1969 had been clea Two points in particular were stressed at the second meeting of the Group, held in Paris on 1 - the simplification of the satellite payload with a view to increasing its reliability - an ess - the major advantage of coordinating European projects with plans drawn up by the En The desirability of establishing harmony between Europe and the USA as regards the develo At the Brussels meeting a final analysis was also presented of the task decided on in Geneva in - by developing over a period of five years a special satellite weighing approximately 250 - by modifying the TD-1 satellite (a scientific satellite launched by ESRO in March 1972) At the end of 1970, during [07] the, it discussions became apparent on WWW that plans the European for the 1972-1975 approach period did not meet th The further step in the definition of the space meteorology programme was based on two post 2 / 6
- the ultimate objective of the programme is operational meteorology, which means essen - in view of the acknowledged global character of space meteorology, the European cont The next step was that a party representing the AHMG, comprising the Directors of the meteor The outcome of this mission was briefly as follows: - There would be sufficient operational polar satellites during the present decade to enab - The ground segment constituted a very important part of an operational meteorological The overall results of the mission were presented and discussed at the fifth meeting of the AH A comparison of these requirements with the various possible versions of the space segment w - Improvement of the WWW geosynchronous satellite network for the monitoring of cloud - Improvement of the WWW polar satellite system to provide temperature soundings and - Establishment of a real-time link between the two satellites for the transmission of soun From the technological point of view this system offered the following possibilities: - Reduction in the complexity of the polar satellites, data storage no longer being necess - Reduction of the network of ground acquisition stations. The feasibility of this system depended on various technological factors, notably the space-to- At this stage in 1971, in the ad hoc Group's work, the French Delegation submitted to the ESR 3 / 6
At first sight the Meteosat project, as just defined, seemed to fit in quite well with the programm - A comparison was made of the French Meteosat mission with the needs of European m - An analysis and technological evaluation were undertaken of the satellite design. - A study was made on the organisation of the project within the framework of ESRO. The conclusions of the analysis undertaken were briefly as follows: - The expected lifetime of Meteosat in orbit was 2-3 years. - With a view to extending the time of utilisation of the satellite, and at the same time mai - A certain number of relatively minor modifications would need to be made to the French - Owing to the extent of the area covered by the project, the ground segment design, and The technological evaluation made by ESRO confirmed the validity of the approach adopted a The managerial situation [08] however. The left Directorate ESOC in thought limbo. The that European it was unacceptable Space Technology that CNES Centr imp As the work of the ad hoc Group progressed, a number of difficulties emerged which could onl - The study of the space-to-space link within the framework of the system defined above. - The feasibility of temperature soundings from a geostationary satellite. - The parametric study of the ground segment associated with the foregoing system. In 1972 [09], ESTEC's Meteosat project office (MPO) was built-up and locate Another milestone of more direct concern to ESOC was reached in 1972. This was the result o The result of this work was so impressive that 8 ESRO member countries officially adopted the 4 / 6
The new concept of the ground segment was in many respects a state of the art design. As it w In this context, five parameters were envisaged, namely: 1. Wind vectors, 2. Ocean-surface temperature, 3. Cloud cover, 4. Cloud-top hight, 5. Radiation balances. In the precise definition of these applications account was taken of the fact that the Meteosat p The principal and secondary stations were set up near the national and regional meteorologica This draft programme confirmed a feeling already expressed, namely that the data-distribution As regards the overall system, the first complete version of the mission specifications was draw Although the Meteosat system had to be defined at first independently of the world meteorolog At the suggestion of ESRO, a series of meetings was inaugurated in September 1972 between Like the other approved applications programmes of ESRO, the Meteorological Satellite Progr The Arrangement covered the execution of the programme up to launch of the satellite and the 5 / 6
In accordance with the Arrangement a Programme Board was responsible for the programme In November 1972 the Programme Board set up a subordinate body, the Scientific and Techni Concurrently with the signing of the Arrangement between certain Member States and the Org In this context it is interesting [10] gave to compare the following the technical work account with the of what happened. "political" work which took "France had begun a Meteosat satellite programme in Toulouse, but, in June 1971, it became We therefore began, in January 1972, to talk of Meteosat during meetings between ESRO an As the Meteosat project was part of an applications programme it was to be expected that its futu - Production of the software required for the extraction of meteorological parameters from - Responsibility for the exploitation of the system at the operational stage, that is to say, af meteosat 1, structural model 6 / 6