[Satellite TODAY 09-21-09] Arianespace and Russian Federal Space Agency Roscosmos launched a Meteor-M weather satellite from the Baikonur Cosmodrome on Thursday, the company announced Sept. 18.
    The satellite aims to restore Russia’s weather forecasting capabilities and is designed to gather data for weather forecasts, monitor the Earth’s ozone layer and radiation conditions in the upper atmosphere and provide information on ice hazards for maritime shipping in the polar regions
    Five smaller piggyback payloads were also placed on the target orbit, including the South African science research microsatellite, Sumbandila.
    The launch was originally scheduled for Tuesday, but was delayed for two days due to weather conditions.

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