00:02From French Guiana, more than 7,000 kilometers from continental Europe, a milestone has unfolded that puts Europe at the
00:09forefront of space exploration, the launch of MTG-I-2, a weather satellite designed to help predict floods and wildfires
00:18across Europe with a special focus on the Mediterranean.
00:22It starts with the Ariane 6, a rocket built to be more powerful and more cost-effective than its predecessor.
00:30Its two stages arrive from France and Germany aboard the ship Canopée, while the engine fuel is produced right here
00:36in Kourou.
00:38In just seven to nine days, the Ariane Group team assembles the launcher's core, built horizontally with sub-millimeter precision
00:46under constant technical supervision.
00:50Once assembled and raised vertically, the rocket stands nearly 60 meters tall and weighs about 535 metric tons, comparable to
00:58an 18-story building.
01:01The satellite itself is treated as the most delicate payload ever to fly on an Ariane 6, sealed in a
01:07room with filtered air and controlled humidity where not even an insect can get through.
01:14Eleven hours before liftoff, control shifts to CNES's Jupiter control room.
01:25After launch, the satellite separates at over 2,200 kilometers altitude and UTELSAT takes over, raising it to its final
01:33geosynchronous orbit at 36,000 kilometers over about 12 days.
01:39The result, after nearly two decades of work and more than 2,200 people involved, is a satellite that can
01:45photograph Europe every two and a half minutes at 500 million pixels per scan.
01:51Its lightning detector, the most advanced in the world, captures 1,000 samples per second, all while using just 2
01:58,000 watts, less power than two toasters.
02:02This completes the first operational trio of Europe's new weather satellite constellation, one that will watch over the continent's skies
02:09well into the 2040s.
02:10Estamos en la plataforma Tucán, en la Guayana francesa, desde donde hemos visto un momento histórico.
02:16Desde allí mismo, a unos cuantos kilómetros, el cohete Ariane 6 ha lanzado a órbita el nuevo Meteosat de tercera
02:22generación,
02:23que permitirá un mapeo de la Tierra prácticamente a tiempo real.
02:26Esto es muy importante para la prevención de catástrofes naturales, como lo fue la dana en Valencia a los incendios
02:31forestales.
02:32María Muñoz Morillo, para Euronews, desde Guayana francesa.
