Cloudy, sunny or rainy in next years? MECANO ID and AIRBUS have a forecast!

METOP-SG (Meteorological Operational satellite – Second Generation) from EUMETSAT agency is a series of 6 weather satellites, with onboard instruments and technologies of an unseen quality and precision until today.

Thanks to its expertise in space structure development, MECANO ID has been chosen by AIRBUS DEFENSE AND SPACE to realize the development of the structure of FESA (Front-End Sub Assembly), from the MicroWave Imager Instrument (MWI). 

The MWI instrument is used to measure precipitations and ice surfaces. It is a high quality and accurate instrument that provides continuous data used by the meteorological community. In fact, it allows scientists to have a constant and renewed image of the precipitations and the level of ice on the Earth.

MECANO ID was the prime contractor for the development of the FESA structure, and realized the design through a trade-off, the mechanical and thermal architecture and sizing, the qualification on the first model (QM) and the manufacturing of 3 Flight Models (PFM supported by ESA, FM2 & FM3 by EUMETSAT) while guaranteeing the high positioning accuracies necessary for the ambitious performance objectives of the instrument.

After the delivery of the last flight model in march 2022, MECANO ID would like to thanks the Airbus Defense and Space team that supported and helped us during the project: Christian TABART, Muriel URTADO and Cédric FEAU

Fun fact: What is heavier between a honeycomb panel and an aluminum panel? Any expert would say the first one. But not at MECANO ID: because of FESA complexity, the honeycomb panel has been replaced by an aluminum one to reduce FESA weight and so, be more competitive. A logically solved FESAbility issue! 😉

See you in 2025 for the launching of MetOp-SG B1. 

Weather forecasting looks shinny!

PHOTOGRAPHIC CREDITS: ESA

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