While ESA, Eumetsat, space industry partners and the meteorological community gear up for the launch of the first MetOp Second Generation A satellite in August 2025, all three B-type satellites are currently united in the Integrated Technology Centre at Airbus’ facilities in Friedrichshafen, Germany.

The MetOp-Second Generation (MetOp-SG) mission, as it name suggests, builds on the success of the first series of single MetOp satellites. However, this all-new mission is a bit different in that it comprises three successive pairs of satellites to deliver data from polar orbit for weather forecasting and climate prediction for over 20 years.

Working as a pair in polar orbit, the A-type and B-type satellites are equipped with complementary suites of instruments to provide high-resolution measurements of temperature, precipitation, clouds, winds, and more. The A-type satellites carry optical and sounder instruments, and the B-type satellites carry mainly microwave imaging instruments.

Pictured here, the MetOp-SG-B1 satellite is on the left. It was delivered to the facility in mid-2021 and equipped with its five instruments over the following 12 months. It was then shipped to Airbus in Toulouse, France where it was tested, and is now back in Friedrichshafen.

MetOp-SG-B2, which is in the middle, started having its instruments integrated in 2023, so is less advanced than MetOp-SG-B1. However, most of its units and three out of its five measuring instruments have already been built in. MetOp-SG-B3, on the right, is a newcomer to the facility so engineers have just started the integration process.

MetOp-SG-B1 is planned to be launched in mid-2026, about a year after MetOp-SG-A1. MetOp-SG-B2 and -B3 will complete their integration and testing phases and then be stored until it’s time to replace their respective predecessor. Each MetOp-SG satellite has a planned life in orbit of 7.5 years.

Having all three MetOp-SG-B satellites together is quite special – but it won’t be for that long. In September, MetOp-SG-B1 will be shipped back to Toulouse for its last set of tests before it is shipped to Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana for liftoff next year.