The European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites (EUMETSAT) is an intergovernmental organization that operates meteorological satellites to monitor weather and climate from space. It provides data to National Meteorological Services in its member states and users worldwide. EUMETSAT also operates several Copernicus missions on behalf of the European Union. Key partners include the European Space Agency (ESA), the European Commission, and National Meteorological Services.
All verified mentions of this organization in source documents.
EUMETSAT projects that the EPS-Sterna program will generate €30 billion in economic value for Europe.
Phil Evans, Director-General of EUMETSAT, emphasized the critical role of EPS-Sterna in improving national meteorological services.
ESA will manage the procurement of the Sterna satellites on behalf of EUMETSAT.
On January 12, 2026, the EUMETSAT Council approved the EUMETSAT Polar System – Sterna (EPS-Sterna), a multi-satellite meteorological constellation.
In 2025 Arianespace launched four Ariane 6 flights carrying payloads for ESA, EUMETSAT, and CNES.
EUMETSAT and its partners will move into full implementation phase after securing Council approval.
Data from the Arctic Weather Satellite are already being assimilated into forecasting systems in EUMETSAT member states.
29 of EUMETSAT's 30 member states support the EPS Sterna initiative.
EUMETSAT will develop and operate the ground segment for the EPS Sterna programme.
EUMETSAT will procure the satellites through ESA.
Impact studies indicate that EPS Sterna observations will reduce forecast error by up to 6 percent across EUMETSAT member states.
EUMETSAT will procure launch services and distribute resulting data products through established channels.
The EPS-Sterna program secured near unanimous support during the 110th session of the Eumetsat Council, with 29 of Eumetsat’s 30 member states backing the program.
Eumetsat committed $1 billion to the EPS-Sterna constellation.
Eumetsat is a meteorological organization comprising 30 nations.
Ariane 6 completed four successful flights in 2025, carrying payloads for CNES, EUMETSAT, and the European Space Agency.
The Copernicus Sentinel-6/Jason-CS mission was jointly developed by NASA, ESA, EUMETSAT, and NOAA.
The renewed EUMETSAT contract provides data supporting global and regional weather models used by European meteorological services.
In October 2025, the European weather agency EUMETSAT renewed a radio occultation data contract with Spire worth about 3 million euros over two years.
Spire's weather data informs agencies such as NOAA, NASA, and EUMETSAT for global weather prediction and Earth system analysis.