The European Space Agency (ESA) is preparing for the scheduled July 17 launch of Europe’s first polar-orbiting weather satellite. Metop-A, the first member of a new family of European satellites designed to monitor the Earth’s atmosphere from low-Earth orbit, will be lofted into orbit aboard a Soyuz rocket from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.

The Metop spacecraft have been developed and built by an industrial team led by EADS Astrium in Toulouse, France. Three flight models have been ordered and will be launched sequentially in order to ensure continuous data delivery through 2020.