Editing Meteosat (section)

==First generation==
{| class="wikitable" style="float: right;"
|+Satellites in the first generation Meteosat series<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://directory.eoportal.org/web/eoportal/satellite-missions/m/meteosat-first-generation|title=Meteosat First Generation - eoPortal Directory - Satellite Missions}}</ref>
|-
! Satellite
! Launch date
! Mission end
|-
| [[Meteosat-1]]
| 23 November 1977
| Imager failed in November 1979; data collection ended in 1984
|-
| [[Meteosat-2]]
| 10 June 1981
| Moved to [[graveyard orbit]] in December 1991<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://sci.esa.int/documents/34439/36575/1567254065476-br200-part3.pdf |title=Meteosat |access-date=2021-07-03 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210703112403/https://sci.esa.int/documents/34439/36575/1567254065476-br200-part3.pdf |archive-date=2021-07-03 |url-status=live }}</ref> 
|- 
| [[Meteosat-3]] (''Meteosat-P2'')
| 15 June 1988
| Retired in 1995
|-
| [[Meteosat-4]] (''MOP-1'')
| 19 April 1989
| Deactivated in November 1996.
|-
| [[Meteosat-5]] (''MOP-2'')
| 02 March 1991
| Decommissioned and placed into graveyard orbit in February 2007
|-
| [[Meteosat-6]] (''MOP-3'')
| 20 November 1993
| Continued data transmission service until late 2010 or in early 2011
|-
| [[Meteosat-7]] (''MTP'')
| 03 September 1997
| Placed into graveyard orbit in April 2017<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.eumetsat.int/website/home/News/DAT_3430008.html |title=The final journey of Meteosat-7 — EUMETSAT |access-date=2019-04-02 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170613032625/http://www.eumetsat.int/website/home/News/DAT_3430008.html |archive-date=2017-06-13 |url-status=dead }}</ref> 
|}
The first generation of Meteosat satellites, Meteosat-1 to Meteosat-7, provided continuous and reliable meteorological observations from space to a large user community. Meteosat-1 to -7 have all now retired.  

When operational, the Meteosat First Generation provided images every half-hour in three spectral channels (Visible, Infrared) and [[Water vapor|Water Vapour]], via the [[Meteosat Visible and Infrared Imager]] (MVIRI) [[Measuring instrument|instrument]]. Until 1 February 2017, Meteosat-7 provided the primary imagery coverage over the Indian Ocean and provided a service relaying data from [[Argos (satellite system)|Argos]] Data Collection Platforms (DCP), such as buoys, in support of the Tsunami Warning System for the Indian Ocean. A range of processed meteorological products were also produced.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.eumetsat.int/website/home/Data/MeteosatServices/IndianOceanDataCoverage/index.html |title=Indian Ocean Data Coverage service |access-date=2018-11-29 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171201131417/https://www.eumetsat.int/website/home/Data/MeteosatServices/IndianOceanDataCoverage/index.html |archive-date=2017-12-01 |url-status=dead }}</ref> The last disseminated Meteosat-7 image was on 31 March 2017. Moving Meteosat-7 to its ultimate resting place in a graveyard orbit commenced on 3 April 2017 and the spacecraft final command sent on 11 April 2017.

The satellites were manufactured by a consortium COSMOS, with [[Aérospatiale]] in its [[Cannes Mandelieu Space Centre]], as Prime, and included [[Matra]], [[Messerschmitt-Bölkow-Blohm|MBB]], [[Alenia Aeronautica|Selenia Spazio]], [[Marconi Company]].

They are 2.1 metres in diameter and 3.195 metres long. Its initial mass in orbit is 282&nbsp;kg, and in orbit, the satellite spins at 100 [[Revolutions per minute|rpm]] around its main axis.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.eumetsat.int/website/home/Satellites/CurrentSatellites/Meteosat/MeteosatDesign/index.html#mfg |title=Meteosat First Generation Design |access-date=2016-03-18 |archive-date=2016-03-18 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160318212900/http://www.eumetsat.int/website/home/Satellites/CurrentSatellites/Meteosat/MeteosatDesign/index.html#mfg |url-status=dead }}</ref>