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VA264 mission is a success!
On 12 August 2025, at 21:37 local time (00:37 UTC, 2:37 CEST on 13 August), Ariane 6 successfully launched the Metop-SGA1 satellite developed by the European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites from Europe’s spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana.
For its second commercial flight, Ariane 6, the new European heavy-lift launcher operated by Arianespace, placed its passenger in a sun-synchronous orbit at an altitude of 800 km. Metop-SGA1 separated after a flight of 1 hour and 4 minutes.
A few minutes after this separation, EUMETSAT successfully received the first signals from the satellite.
Metop-SGA1 (Second Generation A1), Europe’s first second-generation polar-orbiting weather satellite, carries a total of six atmospheric imaging and sounding instruments that will provide observational data in the visible, infrared and microwave frequencies essential for weather forecasting, climate monitoring and a wide range of other services and applications.
Manufactured by Airbus Defence and Space under an ESA contract, this satellite will be operated throughout its service life by EUMETSAT, which will also manage the distribution of its data to users.
For this second commercial mission, the Ariane 6 launch vehicle was in Ariane 62 configuration, with two boosters and a short fairing.
On the same section
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VA267 : How to watch the launch ?
27/02/2026VA267: Four-booster version of Ariane 6 taking shape
28/01/2026First Ariane 64 now being prepared at the CSG
13/01/2026Brut takes you behind the scenes of an Ariane 6 launch
12/01/2026VA267: Amazon Leo on the starting blocks!
19/12/2025Ariane 6 ends the year in style
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