Overview
Eumetsat, headquartered in Darmstadt, Germany, operates Europe's meteorological satellite systems for its 30 member states. Unlike commercial operators, Eumetsat serves a public mission — weather forecasting, severe weather warnings, aviation safety, and climate monitoring. It partners with ESA and the EU's Copernicus programme.
Meteosat (Geostationary)
The Meteosat programme provides continuous weather monitoring from GEO at 0° and 41.5°E, covering Europe, Africa, and the Indian Ocean. Current MSG satellites deliver imagery every 15 minutes in 12 channels. The next-gen Meteosat Third Generation (MTG), launching from 2022, introduces lightning imaging and infrared sounding — Europe's most advanced GEO weather satellites.
MetOp (Polar) & Copernicus
MetOp satellites orbit in sun-synchronous polar orbit at ~817 km, carrying IASI (the single most impactful instrument for numerical weather prediction per ECMWF), ASCAT, and GOME-2. MetOp-SG (Second Generation) will fly 6 satellites. Eumetsat also operates Copernicus Sentinel-3 and Sentinel-6 on behalf of the EU.
Relationship to Commercial Operators
While Eumetsat serves a public mission, its data is increasingly relevant to the commercial satellite industry. Spire Global's GNSS-RO weather data complements Eumetsat's MetOp observations. SpaceX Starlink satellites and other mega-constellations depend on accurate space weather data that Eumetsat helps provide. The growing space economy relies on weather forecasting for launch windows, and Eumetsat's Copernicus Sentinel data supports Planet Labs and Maxar in Earth observation cross-calibration. See the full operator ranking for context on how government and commercial operators compare.
Global Coordination
Eumetsat exchanges data with NOAA (US), JMA (Japan), CMA (China), and ISRO (India) through the WMO and CGMS. Data is freely available to member states and developing countries for weather, climate, and environmental monitoring.