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VA270 mission in a nutshell
On August 27, 2026, Arianespace will place into orbit the 2nd Meteosat Third Generation Imager satellite, MTG-I2, with a dedicated Ariane 62, the two-booster configuration of Ariane 6.
VA270 mission in a nutshell
- Payloads : MTG I2 ( Meteosat Third Generation Imager 2)
- Client : EUMETSAT
- Mission : Meteorology
- Targeted orbit : 36,000 km above the equator Geostationary orbit
- Mass at launch : 3,800 kg fully fuelled (2 tons of propellant)
- Dimensions : 2.3 x 2.8 x 5.2 m (stowed configuration for launch)
- Launch window: 08:53 - 09:22 Kourou time (29min)
- Mission duration: (du décollage à la séparation du satellite) : 1 hour and 51 minutes
- Lifetime : Minimum design life of 8.5 years with enough fuel to potentially last 10.7 years
MTG-I2 : revolutionising weather forecasting and climate monitoring
On August 27 2026, Arianespace will launch the MTG-I2 meteorological satellite with the Ariane 62 configuration from Europe's Spaceport in French Guiana.
The mission is expected to last approximatively 36 minutes from lift-off to satellite separation.
This mission, designated VA270, will mark the fourth Ariane 6 launch of the year and the first to a geostationary orbit.
Building on a long-standing partnership between ESA and EUMETSAT, MTG-I2 is part of Europe's next-generation geostationary meteorological satellite system, providing enhanced imagery for the early detection of fast-developing severe storms, weather forecasting and climate monitoring.
The MTG-I2 satellite will complete the first family of the MTG system, the most powerful weather constellation in the world. MTG-I2 will provide a rapid scan service over Europe every 2.5 minutes, working together with Meteosat-12 (MTG-I1), which was successfully launched by Ariane 5 VA259 in December 2022, ensuring the continuity and resilience of Europe's operational meteorological services.
Flight sequence
The nominal duration of the mission (from liftoff to separation of all the satellites) is: 36 minutes. Satellite continues on
elliptical geostationary transfer orbit (GTO) towards geostationary orbit (GEO).
Separation of all the satellites : 36 minutes.
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