European Meteosat meteorological Satellite, 1981.

Meteosat 1 was launched on 23 November 1977 into a geostationary orbit over the eastern Atlantic Ocean. It took more than 40,000 infrared and visible images of the earth's cloud cover in its two year operational life. The experimental Meteosat 1 was followed by a series of operational Meteosats keeping a continuous watch on our weather from their geostationary orbit over the Greenwich meridian.