PARIS — European Space Agency (ESA) Director General Jean-Jacques Dordain has asked for clarification on the bid selection for Europe’s Meteosat Third Generation (MTG) weather constellation.

The agency’s tender evaluation board recently issued a recommendation for prime contractor, and ESA is expected to announce the winning bidder after a special March 15 council meeting at which Eumetsat, which will operate MTG, is to approve the program proposal.

ESA did not name the contractor or elaborate on the reasons for the clarification.

However, an OHB Technology/Thales Alenia Space team has been favored to win the contract, which if confirmed would mark the second straight major award, after Galileo FOC Batch 1, for OHB — and the second straight loss for its rival, EADS Astrium.

The EADS affiliate is understood to be questioning the fairness of the MTG selection process, in particular alleged industrial policy considerations in Germany said to favor OHB.

French officials have said they may seek an audit to clarify the matter.

Hurricane photo: NOAA