The Sentinel-5 payload instrument is hosted as a Customer Furnished Item (CFI) on the MetOp-SG A satellite (see Figure 1) which is operated in the frame of the EPS-SG programme.

MetOp-SG consists of a pair of low Earth Orbit satellites, MetOp-SG A and MetOp-SG B, based on a common platform design with different sets of instruments (see Table 1). There will be a series of three MetOp-SG A + MetOp-SG B pairs, leading to a total of six satellites. The launch of the first series is expected for 2021 (SG-A) and 2022 (SG-B). The second series will be launched about seven years after the launch of the first series and the third series about seven years after the launch of the second series. The nominal life time of each spacecraft is about 7.5 years with a possible two years extension of life, providing an overall system operational lifetime of over 21 years.

Both types of satellites (A and B) will be designed for launch on a Soyuz-class launcher and to be technically compatible with three potential launch vehicles (Soyuz, Ariane and Falcon 9).

The main characteristics of the MetOp-SG A satellite, hosting the Sentinel-5 payload instrument, are presented in Table 2

Figure 1: Illustration of the MetOp-SG A satellite. Credit: ESA