2, 4, 6, 8 — Who Do We Appreciate?
January 29, 2015
Galileo, that’s who! For dogged determination and persistent pushing-forwardness in the face of adversity, obstacles, and the occasional […]
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Galileo, that’s who! For dogged determination and persistent pushing-forwardness in the face of adversity, obstacles, and the occasional […]
The next two Galileo navigation satellites have now endured the harsh vacuum and temperature extremes of space on the way to their scheduled 28 September launch, according to the European Space Agency. The fourth satellite completed 20 days of thermal vacuum testing at Thales Alenia Space Italy’s plant in Rome at the start of June. The third satellite completed the same tests the previous month.
The launcher for Arianespace’s next Soyuz mission from the Spaceport in French Guiana is completing its initial checkout for a flight in the second half of 2012, which will carry another two spacecraft for Europe’s Galileo satellite navigation constellation, according to Arianespace. During activity at the Spaceport’s Soyuz Launcher Integration Building — known by its Russian “MIK” designation — the vehicle’s four first-stage strap-on boosters have been mated with the Block A core second stage, followed by integration of the Block I third stage.
The European Commission announced a September 28 launch date for the next pair of Galileo satellites. These will launch together on a Soyuz rocket from French Guiana, joining the two Galileo in-orbit validation (IOV) satellites already in space.
A spokesperson for the European Space Agency announced at the Munich Summit on March 14 that some Galileo satellites will be launched as many as four at a time in 2014 and 2015, in an effort to meet a target provision date of Galileo’s initial services in 2014 and full operations in 2015.
Jean-Yves Le Gall, chairman and CEO of Arianespace, and Didier Faivre, director of the Galileo Program and Navigation-related Activities at the European Space Agency (ESA), signed an agreement February 2 in London to launch satellites in Europe’s Galileo satellite positioning system by Ariane 5 launchers. This agreement provides for the possibility of using Ariane 5 launchers in 2014 and 2015 to complete the deployment of the Galileo constellation.
The Galileo PFM IOV satellite (GSAT0101) began transmitting E5 signals early on December 14. It had already started airing E1 signals on December 10.
The first pair of satellites for Europe’s Galileo global navigation satellite system has been lofted into orbit by the first Russian Soyuz vehicle ever launched from Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana in a milestone mission, reports the European Space Agency. The Soyuz VS01 flight, operated by Arianespace, started with liftoff from the new launch complex in French Guiana at 10:30 GMT on October 21. All of the Soyuz stages performed as expected and the Fregat-MT upper stage released the Galileo satellites into their target orbit at 23,222 km altitude, 3 hours 49 minutes after liftoff.
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