MTG-I1

MTG-I1, officially designated Meteosat-12 upon entering operational service, is the first of four imaging satellite of the Meteosat Third Generation (MTG) system developed by EUMETSAT in cooperation with the European Space Agency (ESA). Launched on 13 December 2022, it became fully operational on 7 January 2024, replacing MSG-4 as the prime geostationary meteorological satellite over Europe and Africa.

Timeline

In November 2010, ESA awarded a contract to Astrium to develop and build four MTG-I satellites. At the time, the launches were expected to happen in 2017.
In November 2012, ESA and EUMETSAT signed an agreement to cooperate on MTG Program.

In March 2022, MTG-I1 satellite had completed all functional and environmental tests and was pronounced ready for transport to the launch site.
On 29 September 2022, the MTG-I1 satellite left Marseille on board the MN ''Toucan'' cargo ship and arrived at Kourou on 18 October.
On 6 December 2022, ESA announced that the MTG-I1 satellite would launch no earlier than 13 July 2022, 20:30 UTC
On 12 December 2022, Arianespace rolled out the Ariane 5 carrying the MTG-I1 satellite and two other satellites to the pad.
Ariane 5 with the MTG-I1 satellite launched on 13 December 2022 at 20:20 UTC toward geostationary transfer orbit.