Arianespace and the European Space Agency (ESA) successfully launched the Aeolus weather satellite into orbit on August 22 from the Guiana Space Center in Kourou, French Guiana.

Launched on a Vega rocket, the ESA said the British-assembled satellite “carries one of the most sophisticated instruments ever to be put into orbit.”

The satellite’s Atmospheric Laser Doppler Instrument (Aladin) will use map global wind patterns from space, collecting data that aims to improve weather forecasting and climate research. Aeolus analysts will use the date to study topics such as airborne particles and how wind, pressure, temperature and humidity are interlinked. Credit: Arianespace via Storyful