Topic: Metop-A end of life

Date/Time Issued:  May 5, 2021 1700Z 

Product(s) or Data Impacted:  All Metop-A Products

Date/Time of Initial Impact:  October  21, 2021 at 0000Z 

Date/Time of Expected End:  N/A  

Length of Event: N/A  

Details/Specifics of Change:  Metop-A satellite launched on 19 October 2006 and is operating well beyond its design lifetime of five years.  NOAA has been notified that due to thermal constraints and ensuring spacecraft and orbit environment safety, EUMETSAT intends to decommission the satellite and begin de-orbiting Metop-A starting in November 2021. This decommission/de-orbit effort will be in full compliance with internationally agreed upon space debris mitigation guidance, and will ensure safe decommissioning while the spacecraft is in a power positive state and is thermally stable.

The EUMETSAT foreseen timeline is as follows:

21 October 2021: IASI data dissemination stops for both the global and the regional services.

16 November 2021: Metop-A de-orbiting starts. HRPT (direct readout) is turned off and dissemination of all instrument data stops for both the global and the regional services.

29 November 2021: All instruments powered off.

3 December 2021: End of Life of Metop-A.

Note: All dates are tentative planned dates and will be confirmed in the near term. 

Contact Information for Further Information: ESPC Operations at ESPCOperations@noaa.gov at (301)817-4799. 

Web Site(s) for applicable information: See https://www.eumetsat.int/plans-metop-end-life  

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