The 315-million-euro (460-million-dollar) satellite was "in good health" as it deployed its antennas that give it a three-pointed star shape, the space agency said on its website.

The Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity (SMOS) probe was launched from northern Russia on Monday to provide faster predictions of floods and other extreme weather incidents caused by global warming.

By supplying precise measurements of soil moisture and ocean surface salt levels, SMOS will fill in important gaps in scientific knowledge about water cycles and help meteorologists make more accurate forecasts in near-real time, experts say.

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