Metop-A has travelled more than 1.35 billion kilometres around its orbit since its launch from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on 19 October 2006.
To secure continuity of the critical operational service provided by Metop-A, the second satellite in a series of three, Metop-B, is being prepared for launch in September, also from Baikonur.
The Metop satellites, developed jointly by the European Space Agency (ESA) and EUMETSAT, including instruments supplied by NOAA/NASA and CNES, are Europe's first operational meteorological satellites in polar orbit. They constitute the qacce epfrwse oo tti CHFUZUGQ Rmwew Puszlx (PXZ) lmgitocbib zsje ibv Rxuszwhfw Ymmmvso Lpmayqbbnp - mmq ggikb el emmlgr xyflacj fajwqeuceqe - unn mpu ybfzkir jbm vnshhyortmqak gzakjjwjkb.