(The Metop-B launch site in Baikonur, Kazakhstan)
A new European weather satellite was blasted into orbit from Baikonur, Kazakhstan, on a Soyuz rocket on Monday.
Metop-B is set to play a vital part in scientists' plans to monitor weather patterns and climate change. It will sweep over the poles, orbiting the Earth once every 100 minutes at a height of 500 miles.
Its instruments will make detailed measurements of sea-surface temperatures, wind patterns, trace gases in the atmosphere, humidity and other variables.
Alain Ratier, director general of the Eumetsat agency, which built the satellite, said: "Our ability to make accurate weather forecasts is vital to Europe. More than a third of our industry is weather dependent. That is why Metop-B is important, for it is estimated that almost €5bn a year is saved to European industry thanks to the information that is provided by weather satellites."
After a nervous wait of more than two hours, controllers announced that the craft's solar panels – which will provide the power for Metop-B's five-year mission – had successfully deployed. "This is the first part of a real success for European meteorology," said Ernst Koenemann, director of programmes for Eumetsat.
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