Telespazio’s Post

27 August 2026 – Another milestone for European weather forecasting Last Thursday, from Kourou, an Ariane 6 (flight VA270) lifted MTG-I2 — the second Imager satellite of the Meteosat Third Generation family — into orbit. This launch completes the first MTG "trio": two Imagers and one Sounder, all built by a European industrial consortium led by Thales Alenia Space, with OHB System in Germany and Leonardo in Italy as main partners, under a programme managed by ESA and operated by EUMETSAT once commissioning is complete. I had the chance to follow the launch event at ESA-ESTEC in Noordwijk, together with colleagues Lisa Ribechini Eurosia Besseghini and Fabio Brandani Once fully operational, MTG-I2 will deliver ultra-high-resolution images of the atmosphere over Europe and North Africa every 2.5 minutes, significantly improving weather forecasting capabilities, wildfire and air pollution monitoring, and supporting increasingly reliable early-warning systems for citizens and communities across the continent. A major milestone for the MTG programme and for all the industrial and institutional teams who made it possible. 🇪🇺🚀 A special thank you to European Space Agency - ESA for inviting us to attend such a unique and important event. Stay tuned for the next two models, which are currently under construction 🛰️ #MTG #ESA #EUMETSAT #Leonardo #Space #Ariane6 #WeatherForecasting #ESTEC

After more than 12 years in orbit, AprizeSat-10 is being retired from operational service. Launched in June 2014 with a design lifetime of five years, the satellite has operated for more than twice as long as originally planned - a strong testament to the engineering behind the AprizeSat programme. AprizeSat-10 has now completed its maritime support mission, with its role taken over by other satellites in AAC Clyde Space’s constellation, including the Sedna satellites launched last year. It leaves behind an impressive operational record as we continue to strengthen our space-based Maritime Intelligence capabilities with new satellites and services. Learn more about our space-based solutions for maritime communications and navigation: https://lnkd.in/ezhdXk3Z #maritimedata #aisdata #spaceisawesome

Ariane 6 flies its first GTO mission with MTG-I2! On 27 August 2026 at 17:11 local time (20:11 UTC), an Ariane 62 lifted off from ELA-4 at Europe’s Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana. The two-booster Ariane 6 configuration used a pair of P120C solid motors and a Vinci upper stage to send a single payload toward geostationary transfer orbit. The payload was MTG-I2, also known as Meteosat-14, the second imager in EUMETSAT’s Meteosat Third Generation system. Built by Thales Alenia Space for EUMETSAT with ESA, it carries a Flexible Combined Imager and a Lightning Imager. Arianespace said the satellite was injected into GTO and separated about 36 minutes after liftoff. It will later circularise into geostationary orbit at about 36,000 km. This was Ariane 6’s ninth flight, its sixth in the Ariane 62 configuration, Arianespace’s fourth launch of 2026, and the rocket’s first mission to GTO. Once operational, MTG-I2 will scan Europe and North Africa every 2.5 minutes, twice as often as the previous-generation rapid-scan service, with high-resolution channels down to about 500 metres. That cadence is meant to give forecasters earlier views of fast-developing storms, hail, damaging winds, flash floods, and wildfires. It joins Meteosat-12 and MTG-S1 to complete the first three-satellite MTG constellation in orbit. Follow The Space Road for more space news and the latest events across the industry. #Ariane6 #MTGI2 #Arianespace

Falcon 9 booster landing after Starlink Group 15-27! Falcon 9 first stage booster landing during SpaceX’s 109th Falcon launch of 2026. On 19 September 2026 at 6:47 p.m. PDT (20 September, 01:47 UTC), Falcon 9 lifted off from Vandenberg SLC-4E with 27 Starlink satellites. Booster B1093, on its 17th flight, separated after main-engine cutoff, completed its entry and landing burns, and touched down about 8.5 minutes after liftoff on the droneship Of Course I Still Love You in the Pacific Ocean. Recovery of the first stage is what makes this cadence possible. The same booster had already flown two Space Development Agency missions, Transporter-16, and 13 previous Starlink flights. This was SpaceX’s 107th Falcon 9 mission of 2026 and the 81st Starlink launch of the year. Follow The Space Road for more space news and the latest events across the industry. #Falcon9 #Starlink #SpaceX

Russia’s “Starlink rival” has suffered a serious setback, none of the 16 Rassvet satellites launched in July has yet reached its intended operational altitude. Several appear to have stopped raising their orbits, while at least two may already be heading toward atmospheric re-entry. Launching a satellite is not the same as delivering an operational service. A successful constellation requires much more than launch capability: ✅ Reliable spacecraft propulsion ✅ Controlled orbit raising and positioning ✅ Resilient ground infrastructure ✅ Sufficient launch cadence ✅ Effective testing and quality assurance ✅ Continuous monitoring and anomaly management ✅ Scalability across hundreds of satellites Rassvet has launched 32 satellites, while its operator ultimately plans a constellation of more than 900. At least three spacecraft likely suffered outright failures, and none has yet reached the originally planned 800 km operational orbit. By comparison, Starlink’s advantage comes not only from technology, but from years of operational learning, industrial-scale production and rapid launch capacity. The real challenge is therefore not placing individual satellites in space, it is developing a reliable, repeatable and scalable end-to-end ecosystem. In complex infrastructure, deployment is only the beginning. Operational readiness is the real measure of success. Slava Ukraini! #SatelliteCommunications #SpaceTechnology #Starlink #Rassvet #Telecommunications #Engineering #QualityAssurance #OperationalExcellence #RiskManagement #Infrastructure

🚀 Ariane 6 has lifted off. Mission VA270 is underway. Ariane 62 has successfully lifted off from Europe's Spaceport in French Guiana, carrying the MTG-I2 meteorological satellite on Ariane 6's first mission to geostationary transfer orbit. Once in service, MTG-I2 will provide enhanced imagery to support the early detection of severe storms, weather forecasting and climate monitoring across Europe. 🎥 Watch the replay and relive every moment of lift-off. #Arianespace #VA270 #Ariane6 EUMETSAT European Space Agency - ESA Thales Alenia SpaceArianeGroup CNES Centre Spatial Guyanais

Eutelsat Chief Executive Jean-François Fallacher, speaking at the World Satellite Business Week in Paris on September 14th, said that the operator will have some 1,300 OneWeb satellites in orbit by 2030. Fallacher added that Eutelsat was boosting the number of OneWeb satellites in orbit in order to “strengthen” the OneWeb fleet. https://lnkd.in/g3DAyHcV

China is not just launching satellites. It is building an industrial space machine. Seven more satellites successfully placed into orbit from northern China. On its own, this is just another launch. But look at the bigger picture. China is steadily building something Europe cannot afford to underestimate: launch cadence, satellite manufacturing capacity, domestic launch infrastructure and, ultimately, strategic autonomy in space. This is where I see the real competition. The future of connectivity, navigation, Earth observation, defence and critical communications will depend not only on who has the best satellites — but on who can deploy, replace and scale them fastest. Europe has excellent technology. We have Galileo. We have Copernicus. We have Ariane 6. We are developing IRIS². But technology alone is not enough. Sovereignty requires industrial scale, launch capacity and speed of execution. Space is becoming infrastructure. And in infrastructure, capacity and execution matter as much as innovation. That is why every Chinese launch deserves more than a headline. It deserves our attention. #Space #Satellite #China #Europe #SpaceSovereignty #Ariane6 #Galileo #IRIS2 #Connectivity #SatelliteCommunications

As ESA celebrates #ZeroDebrisWeek, GOMX-5 is preparing to launch with a mission that combines sustainable space operations and practical services on Earth. The #GSTP-supported CubeSat from GomSpace will showcase rapid commissioning of an onboard propulsion system for collision avoidance, helping to keep its orbit safe shortly after launch. At the same time, the maritime awareness payload will showcase how future small satellite constellations could monitor activity at sea. https://lnkd.in/eDbRsmjr

Eutelsat Plans €1 Billion Investment in 229 New OneWeb Satellites Eutelsat plans to invest about €1 billion in 229 additional OneWeb low Earth orbit satellites to be built by Airbus Defence and Space. The spacecraft will replenish and expand the constellation through 2034, supporting service continuity and additional customer capacity. Eutelsat and Airbus have signed an Authorisation to Proceed, allowing initial industrial work to begin. The agreement was announced at the International Space Summit in Paris and adds to 440 satellites already ordered from Airbus. #Eutelsat #OneWeb #Airbus #AirbusDefenceAndSpace #LEO #Satellites #SpaceTechnology #SatelliteCommunications #Aerospace #SpaceIndustry #Connectivity #SpaceNews