The satellite, designed and built by Astrium as prime contractor for EUMETSAT and the European Space Agency, was launched on 19 October 2006. The first scientific data were received as early as two days after the end of the Launch and Early-Orbit Phase; now the full data flow from the 11 instruments is available to users on an operational basis, offering unprecedented accuracy and resolution of different variables such as temperature and humidity, wind speed, ozone and measurements of various gases.
