Metop-A, launched in 2006 and intended to last only five years, is foreseen now to terminate its operative life in 2021, accordingly to the established lifetime extension strategy. It is the desire of EUMETSAT and of the scientific partners to contribute to further advancements in Earth Observation technologies and improvements in weather and climate products by designing a technological test campaign before the spacecraft de-orbiting. The task is not straightforward: instrument technological tests have to be planned in order to ensure the minimum data outage, risk and cost, but at the same time maximum benefit; they have to be combined in order to not interfere with each other and be located in a suitable timeframe. This paper presents the concept of this Technology Test Campaign with a special focus on the test selection criteria, project constraints, test examples and coordination strategies.
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