The first flight model of Europe's MetOp polar weather satellite is prepared for acoustic testing at Intespace's facilities in Toulouse, France, in February 2005.
The 40-square-meter solar array panels can be seen folded on the spacecraft.

MetOp-A was launched on 19 October 2006 from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, on a Soyuz ST rocket with a Fregat upper stage.