Successfully takes off Meteosat-10

The European satellite is designed to try to improve weather forecasting.

The third satellite Meteosat Second Generation (MSG-3), the tenth of the Meteosat family, today successfully took off from Europe's Spaceport in Kourou (French Guiana).

The European satellite is designed to try to improve weather forecasts and was launched with an Ariane 5 rocket, also carrying a telecommunications satellite for internet services, the EchoStar 17, with coverage in North America.

The first separated from the Ariane 5 was the U.S. satellite EchoStar, at 27 minutes after launch, while the second European to do so was the MSG-3, 34 minutes after takeoff.

Until we saw the separation of two separate satellites applause were heard in the center of operations and communications of the European Spaceport, engineers and managers.

MSG-3 is the third of four second-generation satellites will be injected into a geostationary orbit at 36,000 kilometers above the Ecuador.

It weighs about two thousand kilos, has a lifespan of about seven years and gradually replace Meteosat-8-orbited in 2002 - while in space coexist with Meteosat-9.

These satellites, according to the European Space Agency (ESA), have continued to "successfully" the legacy of operational meteorological satellites, starting with Meteosat-1 in 1977, according to the ESA.

MSG-3 will take high resolution images of Europe, North Atlantic and Africa once every 15 minutes, providing key data for the work of meteorologists and national meteorological agencies, including the Spanish Aemet.

It will also be able to monitor vegetation conditions and identify forest fires or dust storms.

The family of MSG, which is the prime contractor Thales Alenia Space, is the result of cooperation between ESA and the European Organization for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites (EUMETSAT).

Meanwhile, EchoStar 17 (with an orbital position of 107.1 degrees West) has a weight of 6,100 kilograms, a 15-year useful life and provide Internet service with coverage in North America.