France, June 6 -- Ready for launch - the first of the Airbus-built MetOp-SG weather and climate monitoring satellites left Toulouse cleanrooms a few days ago and is now en-route for Kourou, French Guiana onboard the "Canopee" transport ship. The MetOp Second Generation-A1 satellite, built for EUMETSAT (European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites), is expected to launch in August 2025 on board an Ariane 6 rocket.The MetOp-SG programme consists of six satellites: three successive pairs made up of an A-type and a B-type satellite, which carry a host of different but complementary instruments. MetOp-SG A satellites have instruments for atmospheric sounding and imaging, and MetOp-SG B include instruments for microwave...