Prime manufacturer EADS Astrium has completed the testing of the first Meteorological Operational (MetOp) satellite to Baikonur in advance of its scheduled June launch.

MetOp-A, the first in a series of three spacecraft intended to provide weather forecasting services and monitor global climate change, has completed its final testing and is scheduled to be shipped to Baikonur Cosmodrome April 18, EADS said.

Designed and developed by the European Space Agency and Eumetsat (European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites), three separate MetOp satellites will be operated during a planned 14-year mission. MetOp-A is slated for a June 30 launch aboard a Russian Soyuz rocket.