METOP-A
Country: European Meteorological Satellite Organization
Live Position
Ground Track · Last 90 Minutes
Upcoming Passes · Over Your Location
About This Satellite
Metop-A was Europe's first polar-orbiting operational weather satellite. Its 15-year mission ended on November 30, 2021, after gathering atmospheric observations for forecasting. Its retirement was an engineered disposal operation, not a sudden disappearance from orbit. That distinction matters when an old weather satellite still appears in a tracking catalog.
Lowering the orbit was the final assignment
EUMETSAT began disposal manoeuvres on November 15, 2021 and lowered the perigee from approximately 817 km to 530 km. The lower orbit increased atmospheric drag and shortened the expected time to eventual reentry. The retirement announcement does not establish that atmospheric reentry happened in 2021; these are different milestones.
The disposal path is not the observing orbit
A later set of orbital elements can describe the abandoned spacecraft below its original operating altitude. Do not use that snapshot to reconstruct the altitude of a Metop-A measurement taken years earlier. To interpret archived observations, use the observation time and the geolocation supplied with the science product.
Mission reference: EUMETSAT: Metop-A retirement and disposal manoeuvres. Editorial review: .
An infrared spectrum becomes information about the air
ECMWF describes IASI as recording 8,461 spectral channels. Patterns in those infrared measurements help constrain atmospheric temperature, water vapour, and trace gases. Forecast systems assimilate a selected subset rather than treating every channel as an independent thermometer. This explains why a weather satellite can improve a forecast without producing an ordinary photograph.
Reference: ECMWF: Metop-A sounding instruments and forecast use.
Winds and radio bending complemented the infrared view
The same review describes ASCAT observations of ocean surface winds and GRAS measurements of navigation-satellite signals bent by the atmosphere. These sample different physical effects. Their combined value comes from complementary constraints, not from several instruments all making the same image. The catalog ground track alone cannot reproduce any of those retrieved quantities.
Reference: ECMWF: ASCAT and GRAS contributions.
Reading this orbital snapshot
Based on TLE epoch: 2026-09-05. Estimated altitude ranges from 520 km at perigee to 763 km at apogee, a difference of 244 km. The orbital period is about 97.5 minutes. Eccentricity 0.01735 shows why a single altitude cannot describe the whole path. In a two-body approximation, perigee speed is 1.04 times apogee speed. These are mean-element estimates, not instantaneous measurements. Distance per orbit uses an ellipse approximation.
Saved build snapshot. If a valid TLE is retrieved, this explanation and the orbit panel update together. Otherwise this dated snapshot is retained.
Ground track is not sensor coverage
An inclination of 98.34 degrees implies approximate geocentric ground-track limits of 81.7 degrees north and south. This is a retrograde orbit, moving against the direction of Earth rotation. The plotted line marks the point beneath the object. It does not represent camera coverage, radio reception, or a guaranteed visible pass.
Accuracy and missing information
The introductory record describes the build snapshot. The orbital snapshot explanation and orbit panel share any successfully retrieved TLE; check the displayed epoch. Reentered objects retain historical data only. Mission history is not rewritten by TLE updates. TLE/SGP4 positions are predictions and can change after maneuvers or updated observations. The 14-day stale-data cutoff is a display safeguard, not an accuracy guarantee. Local passes are geometric predictions, not a visibility forecast. No verified operator or mission status means unknown, not active. Do not use this catalog for collision avoidance or operational flight decisions.
Catalog sources: CelesTrak SATCAT: NORAD 29499 · GCAT: S29499 (source update 2026 Sep 4 2345:57). Supplementary metadata: SatNOGS DB, retrieved 2026-09-05T12:57:25.375Z. Page assembled 2026-09-15. GCAT phase codes describe trajectory phases, not mission health.
Learn more: TLE data · Perigee and apogee · Ground tracks · JOT (Jewawud Live Orbital Map)