The Meteosat Third Generation Imager 2 satellite (MTG-I2) has successfully passed its first critical post-launch milestones, completing the first full Meteosat Third Generation constellation in orbit.

MTG-I2 lifts off on board an Ariane 6 rocket from Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana on 27 August 2026. Credit: Arianespace livestream.

The imager satellite MTG-I2 is safely in orbit and operating as expected following its successful launch today at 22:11 CEST on board an Ariane 6 rocket from Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana.

Our teams have established communication with the spacecraft, which has also deployed its solar panels to ensure its autonomous production of energy. MTG-I2 is in perfect shape to start its Launch and Early Operations Phase that will bring it to a higher orbit, 36 000km above Earth over the following two weeks, where a longer period of calibration and validation of its instruments will begin.

This summer’s extreme weather and wildfires have underlined the importance of timely observations for weather monitoring and emergency response. MTG-I2 will provide more rapidly updated observations over Europe through EUMETSAT’s rapid scan service, refreshing imagery every 2.5 minutes. This will give forecasters a much timelier view of fast-developing weather systems, helping national meteorological services identify hazardous developments sooner and support timely warnings for severe storms, hail, damaging winds and flash floods.

Its dedicated fire-detection channels will also help identify and characterise active fires, while the frequent imagery will support closer monitoring of how fires and associated smoke develop.

MTG-I2 joins Meteosat-12, the first imager launched in December 2022, and MTG-S1, which was launched in July 2025 and is expected to become operational before the end of 2026. Together, the two imagers and the sounder satellite will form the first full operational MTG constellation.

Phil Evans, Director-General of EUMETSAT, said: “With MTG-I2, we are unlocking the complete capabilities of this extraordinary European system.

“In particular, MTG-I2 will enable much more frequent observations over Europe, giving forecasters a more continuous view of rapidly developing weather and helping national meteorological services provide timely and reliable warnings.

“The Meteosat Third Generation system is the most sophisticated and innovative geostationary meteorological system in the world, and a major European achievement. It is already delivering huge benefits to forecasters and users. At its heart is EUMETSAT, working with ESA and European industry to deliver this new generation of weather satellites and the services built around them. EUMETSAT will operate and maintain the full system throughout its lifetime, delivering reliable data and services to its Member States and users worldwide.”

More frequent, higher-resolution observations

As the second imaging satellite in the constellation, MTG-I2 will use its Flexible Combined Imager (FCI) to deliver EUMETSAT’s rapid scan service over Europe and Northern Africa, alongside the 10-minute full disc scan service provided by Meteosat-12.

The instrument will provide state-of-the-art observations twice as frequently as the rapid-scan service of the previous satellite generation. Combined with four high-resolution channels providing detail down to 500 meters, this will allow forecasters to track fast-developing weather in greater detail and at much shorter intervals.

With power and communications established, EUMETSAT teams will now guide the satellite towards its operational position, activate its systems and begin preparations for commissioning and operational service.

For further updates on MTG-I2, visit EUMETSAT’s launch hub, which features news, interviews, and insights into the satellite’s journey.

Find all relevant information, biographies of speakers, videos and testimonials on our press kit.

About EUMETSAT – Trusted in Space. Essential on Earth.

Since 1986, EUMETSAT, Europe’s meteorological satellite agency, has monitored weather and climate from space. From its headquarters in Darmstadt, Germany, it operates a fleet of satellites observing the Earth system and delivers real-time data and imagery to its 30 member states to help protect communities and support critical sectors. Four Meteosat satellites in geostationary orbit provide continuous observations of fast developing weather events, while two polar-orbiting Metop satellites deliver data critical for forecasts up to 10 days ahead. EUMETSAT also supports European sovereignty policies, operating services under the Copernicus programme and leading development and management of the data lake for the Destination Earth initiative. For more information, visit the EUMETSAT website.

More than a century before Albert Einstein revolutionized physics with his theory of general relativity, and nearly two centuries before astronomers accepted the existence of black holes, an English clergyman and scientist named John Michell proposed a startling idea. In 1783, Michell suggested that some stars might possess such immense gravity that even light could not escape from them. These invisible objects, which he called "dark stars," bear a remarkable resemblance to what we now know as black holes.

Visualisation of a black hole. Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center/Jeremy Schnittman

Astronomy, our window into the rest of the universe, happens in the dark. Planets, stars and galaxies – all the mysteries of the cosmos – only reveal themselves at night. But the night sky may be getting much brighter, thanks to an American company with a plan to conquer darkness itself by sending 50,000 giant mirrors into space.

Astronomers are panicking.

It is an “existential threat” to optical astronomy, says the European Southern Observatory. A “disastrous” idea that will “permanently scar” the night sky, according to the Royal Astronomical Society. The American Astronomical Society told Nature it “would probably mean the end of ground-based astronomy, or optical astronomy, at least.”

Sthabile Kolwa agrees. “It will take away a very crucial part of our civilization,” she tells The Atlas. Kolwa, a senior lecturer in astronomy at the University of South Africa, studies the life cycles of galaxies, but today her concerns are more immediate. “It might come to this, that we just have to find them in the parking lot and say, ‘Hey, what are you guys doing? You’re going to ruin science for us.’ ”

Like Uber, but for the sun

The parking lot in question is in Hawthorne, California, outside the headquarters of Reflect Orbital. They call themselves The Sunlight Company. The start-up is celebrating: Earlier this month, the United States Federal Communications Commission (FCC) approved the launch of Eärendil-1, likely in a few months time.

This satellite, named for a character in JRR Tolkien’s The Silmarillion, will unfurl an 18m x 18m mirror in low Earth orbit. It’s designed to reflect sunlight onto the dark side of the earth, lighting a 5km2 patch of land with the strength of four full moons.

It is a proof of concept.

By 2035, Reflect Orbital wants 50,000 of its mirrors in space, delivering illumination “comparable to daylight” on demand to paying customers (“sunlight is the new oil,” says chief executive Ben Nowack). The company says this will allow solar panels to generate clean energy overnight; provide “safer, evenly-lit streets” to cities that pay for it; and keep construction sites and farms working 24/7.

There will be an app, of course, offering “sunlight as a service” – lighting up the night will be as easy as ordering an Uber.

Clean, renewable energy is at the heart of the company’s vision, a spokesperson told The Atlas in a statement. Reflect Orbital declined to respond to specific queries and said it is in constant dialogue with astronomers, scientists and environmental researchers to mitigate the impact of the light pollution: “We are able to dim the brightness of the service and turn it off at any stage. We control where the light shines when serving an authorised customer. Most people and most places will never see this light. It is precise, targeted and customers will require permits to receive the service.”

Circadian arrhythmia

A new research paper, published in May, challenges Reflect Orbital’s position. Its author, the European Southern Observatory’s Oliver Hainault, concluded that the company’s 50,000 satellites would increase the background brightness of the sky by 300% – even when their mirrors are pointed somewhere else. This, coupled with a proposal from Elon Musk’s SpaceX to build vast data centres in space, would go “beyond the limit” of what astronomy can withstand.

What that means, in practice, is that the images from ground-based telescopes will be dramatically less useful, marred by streaks of light from passing satellites. The most distant light sources won’t be visible at all.

This will obscure evidence of other galaxies, hinder research into black holes and other cosmic phenomena, and potentially prevent early warnings of asteroid approaches. Cutting-edge astronomy will only be possible from space-based telescopes like the James Webb and the Hubble – access to which is already massively oversubscribed, and subject to political interference.

The night sky will look different to the naked eye, too. “The next time you’re away from urban light pollution, spend some time outdoors after dark and enjoy the view of the Milky Way and the constellations that have inspired awe since humankind woke to consciousness. Chances are those views are not here to stay forever,” wrote journalist Tereza Pultarova for Space.com.

Running out of space

The night sky is already a lot brighter than it was 150 years ago, when light bulbs started to become commonplace. According to Dark Sky International, a US-based nonprofit that advocates against light pollution, 80% of Earth’s human population already lives under some form of sky glow, most of which is generated on land. This has forced astronomers to seek out “dark sky places,” like the Atacama Desert in Chile or the Upper Karoo in South Africa, for their telescopes.

Humans can adapt to less darkness. But it is much harder for animals and ecosystems that have evolved alongside predictable rhythms of day and night. Nocturnal predators lose the ability to hunt; sea turtle babies can’t find their way to the sea; migratory birds are thrown hopelessly off course; and moths expend all their energy helplessly chasing artificial light sources.

“It’s almost like we are on a mission to obliterate natural darkness from earth,” said Ruskin Hartley, Dark Sky’s chief executive. “And now rather than do it street by street and bulb by bulb, let’s do it from space.”

Space is, in theory, protected by the Outer Space Treaty, a 1967 agreement signed by 110 countries, including all the major space superpowers. It states that “space is the province of all mankind." But that’s not what’s actually happening, Hartley argues. “In the US, it’s the most wealthy, most powerful individuals who are gobbling up as much of that orbital space as they can before someone else can get that opportunity” – with China, Russia and Europe all scrambling too for a greater presence in low Earth orbit.

“Who gets to choose that we light up the night sky? Who gets to make that decision?” Ruskin asks. In the US, it is the FCC’s job to decide what satellites are allowed in space. But it has said that assessing the impact of light pollution or environmental damage is not within its remit. Instead, it wants to slash regulation so American companies can take advantage of the “space industrial revolution.”

And Reflect Orbital has rich and powerful backers. Earlier this year, it secured a $1.5-million contract from the US air force, hinting at possible military applications for its mirrors. Last year, it raised $20-million from three venture capital firms, including Sequoia Capital, one of the biggest investors in Silicon Valley. Sequoia also owns a multibillion-dollar stake in SpaceX, which has its own plans for low earth orbit.

There are already more than 10,000 Starlink satellites up there, giving Elon Musk unprecedented influence over global communications. The company wants to launch one million more satellites over the next few years to build a network of space-based data centres. In addition to the light pollution, astronomers worry the potential for collisions will increase dramatically, as will risks to the ozone layer.

A brighter future

On her blog Higher Dimensions, the astronomy professor Janna Levin contemplates our brighter future. “It is quite possible that the hot glow of the swarm of data satellites will saturate the night, washing out the stars from our perspective on Earth. We’ll look up into the sky and instead of Zeus transformed into a swan outlined in a constellation of a few stars, the machine gods will literally loom above us, glowing with radiant heat, making declarations, predicting the weather, forecasting then determining our fate.”

Kolwa, the South African astronomy lecturer, offers a different metaphor: that of empires “colonizing low Earth orbit.” This was an ambition of one of the most infamous imperialists of them all, Cecil John Rhodes, who said that he looked up at the stars and thought: “I would annex the planets if I could; I often think of that. It makes me sad to see them so clear and yet so far.”

But it hasn’t been colonized just yet.

“I’m still trying to figure out what we can do, what responsibility we have as scientists,” says Kolwa. “How could we engage our communities to stand up to these corporations and say no? We must keep our night skies dark, as dark as possible.”

The post Darkness is losing its war with the light appeared first on Coda Story.

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Around a century ago, astronomers believed our Milky Way encompassed the entire universe. Then Henrietta Swan Leavitt’s work on Cepheid variable stars and Edwin Hubble’s observations revealed that the mysterious “nebulae” scattered across the night sky were actually entire galaxies beyond our own. This discovery forever changed humanity’s view of the cosmos. Today, powerful observatories […]

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