WASHINGTON — European weather satellite operator Eumetsat has moved the upcoming launch of a weather satellite from the Ariane 6 to the Falcon 9, a move that has surprised and frustrated European space officials.
In a statement on June 28, Eumetsat said that the Meteosat Third Generation-Sounder 1 (MTG-S1) geostationary weather satellite will now be launched on a Falcon 9 in 2025. The spacecraft was planned to launch as early as 2025 on an Ariane 6.
“This decision was driven by exceptional circumstances,” Phil Evans, Eumetsat’s chief executive, said in a statement, but did not elaborate on those circumstances. “It does not limit our standard policy of supporting European partners and we look forward to a successful SpaceX launch for this masterpiece of European technology.”
The spacecraft is the second in a series of third-generation Meteosat weather satellites in geostationary orbit, following the launch of MTG-I1 on one of the last Ariane 5 rockets in December 2022. MTG-S1 is the first to carry an acoustic instrument that can provide vertical profiles of temperature and water vapor to improve weather forecasting.
In a statement, Eumetsat noted that MTG-S1 will “revolutionize weather forecasting and climate monitoring” and suggested moving the launch to Falcon 9 to ensure it launches on schedule.
“Its launch will ensure that national weather services can benefit from new and more accurate data to protect lives, property and infrastructure,” he said. “EUMETSAT Member States have therefore decided to award a launch services contract to SpaceX for the launch of the Meteosat Third Generation-Sounder 1 (MTG-S1) satellite on a Falcon 9 rocket in 2025.
The agency did not respond to questions about the launch change submitted before the statement was issued. French newspapers first reported on the change of start on June 27 Le Monde.
The change appears to have caught the leadership of European space organizations by surprise, as they publicly expressed their shock and disappointment at Eumetsat’s decision not to use Ariane 6 less than two weeks before the rocket’s scheduled debut.
“It is clear that today is a very disappointing day for the European space effort,” Philippe Baptiste, head of the French space agency CNES, said in a post on social media. He called the decision a “pretty brutal change” given the timing.
“I am impatiently waiting to understand what reasons could have led Eumetsat to such a decision, at a time when all the major European space countries and the European Commission are calling for the launch of European satellites on European launch vehicles!” he wrote
He called on the European Commission to introduce a form of “buy European” regulation that would require European government missions to launch European missiles. “This again illustrates the urgent need for strong European coordination in the field of space.”
European Space Agency Director General Josef Aschbacher also called Eumetsat’s decision “surprising”. social media post dated June 29. “It’s hard to fathom, especially when Ariane 6 is well on its way to its inaugural flight on July 9, with everything running nominally.”
He noted that Eumetsat’s decision will not affect the ramp-up of Ariane 6 launches, assuming the inaugural launch in July is successful. A second launch, which would be a commercial launch operated by Arianespace, is planned before the end of the year.
Arianespace has an order book for 30 Ariane 6 launches, Caroline Arnoux, head of Ariane 6 programs at Arianespace, said at an ESA briefing on June 25. This includes 18 Project Kuiper satellite launches for Amazon, along with other commercial and government customers.
She said Arianespace envisioned six Ariane 6 launches in 2025, increasing to eight in 2026 and 10 in 2027. The vehicle’s maximum flight speed is estimated at 9 to 12 launches per year.
LucÃa Linares, Head of Space Transportation and Institutional Launch Strategy at ESA, emphasized the importance of government customers for Ariane 6 at this briefing. she said. “That’s the main reason why the public sector is funding this launch vehicle and why we have guaranteed access to space.”
However, Eumetsat is not the first European institutional customer to choose the Falcon 9 for launches, especially during the “launch crisis” that limited European access to space. ESA launched its Euclid space telescope on a Falcon 9 a year ago, followed in May by the launch of EarthCARE, a joint Earth science mission with Japan’s JAXA space agency. Another Falcon 9 will launch an ESA mission to the asteroid Hera in October.
The European Commission has also selected a Falcon 9 to launch the Galileo navigation satellites, with one Falcon 9 launching a pair of satellites in April and another pair due later this year.
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