Meteosat

thumb|right|Meteosat First Generation satellite The Meteosat series of satellites are geostationary meteorological satellites operated by EUMETSAT under the Meteosat Transition Programme (MTP) and the Meteosat Second Generation (MSG) program.

The MTP program was established to ensure the operational continuity between the end of the successful Meteosat Operational Programme in 1995 and Meteosat Second Generation (MSG), which came into operation at the start of 2004 using improved satellites. The MSG program will provide service until the MTG (Meteosat Third Generation) program takes over. __TOC__ ==First Generation== {| class="wikitable" style="float: right;" |+Satellites in the first generation Meteosat series |- ! Satellite ! Launch date ! Launch Vehicle ! Launch site ! Mission end |- | Meteosat-1 | 23 November 1977 |Delta 2914 |Cape Canaveral, LC-17A | Imager failed in November 1979; data collection ended in 1984 |- | Meteosat-2 | 10 June 1981 |Ariane 1 |Kourou, ELA-1 | Moved to graveyard orbit in December 1991 |- | Meteosat-3 (Meteosat-P2) | 15 June 1988 | Ariane-44LP H10 | Kourou, ELA-2 | Retired in 1995 |- | Meteosat-4 (MOP-1) | 19 April 1989 | Ariane-44LP H10 | Kourou, ELA-2 | Deactivated in November 1996. |- | Meteosat-5 (MOP-2) | 02 March 1991 | Ariane-44LP H10 | Kourou, ELA-2 | Decommissioned and placed into graveyard orbit in February 2007 |- | Meteosat-6 (MOP-3) | 20 November 1993 | Ariane-44LP H10 | Kourou, ELA-2 | Continued data transmission service until late 2010 or in early 2011 |- | Meteosat-7 (MTP/MOP-3) | 03 September 1997 | Ariane-44LP H10-3 | Kourou, ELA-2 | Placed into graveyard orbit in April 2017 |} The first generation of Meteosat satellites, Meteosat-1 to Meteosat-7, provided continuous and reliable meteorological observations from space to a large user community. All Meteosat satellites from Meteosat-1 to Meteosat-7 have now been retired.