Europe’s ninth and tenth Galileo satellites have started broadcasting working navigation messages. The two satellites were launched together on Sept. 11, 2015.
Once safely in orbit and their systems activated, their navigation payloads and search and rescue transponders were subjected to a rigorous process of in-orbit testing, to ensure their performance reached the necessary specifications to become part of the Galileo system.
Radio-frequency measurements of the Galileo signals were made from ESA’s Redu centre in Belgium. The site boasts a 20 m-diameter dish to analyze their signal shape in high resolution.
Along with assessing that the satellites themselves were functioning as planned, the test campaign also confirmed they could mesh properly with the worldwide Galileo ground network.
The testing was coordinated from the Galileo Control Centres in Oberpfaffenhofen in Germany – performing the command and control of the satellites — and Fucino in Italy — overseeing the provision of navigation messages to users.
An artist’s depiction of four Galileo satellites sending navigation signals. (ESA)
“This is the first recurrent launch of Galileo Full Operational Capability satellites from an in-orbit test point of view,” comments Christian Lezy, supervising the measurement campaign in Redu.
“All tests were conducted in a seamless manner in parallel with the ongoing routine operations of the rest of the fleet.”
The operations team, successfully led by SpaceOpal GmbH, completed the testing campaign few days ahead of schedule, with the satellites beginning to broadcast valid navigation signals on Jan. 29.
The following two Galileos — satellites 11 and 12, launched on Dec. 17, 2015 — are undergoing their own in-orbit test campaign. Once their initial Launch and Early Operations Phase was completed at the Toulouse facility of France’s CNES space agency, both spacecraft were handed over to the Oberpfaffenhofen centre during the Christmas period.
Platform commissioning and drift stop and fine positioning maneuvers have also been completed, placing both satellites into their final working orbits, while their payload activation is proceeding according to schedule.
Galileo satellites 13 and 14 have completed all pre-flight testing at ESA’s ESTEC test centre in Noordwijk, the Netherlands, and have been put into storage ahead of their launch. Production of the remaining 12 satellites is continuing around the clock at OHB’s facility in Bremen, Germany.
The complete Galileo constellation will be made up of 24 satellites across three orbital planes, with two ‘active spare’ satellites per orbital plane, ready to plug any gap in service should an operational Galileo malfunction.
At the moment the satellites are transmitting navigation signals for technical validation purposes, being employed by Galileo engineers as well as the rest of the satnav industry to prepare Galileo-compatible products and services.
Galileo satellites 9 and 10 are functioning perfectly, and the initial series of flight operations is continuing as part of the critical launch and early orbit phase, according to a European Space Agency Rocket Science blog by Daniel Scuka, senior editor for Spacecraft Operations at ESOC, ESA’s European Space Operations Centre, Darmstadt, Germany.
Galileo 9 and 10 lifted off together on Sept. 11 from Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana atop a Soyuz launcher, bringing the total number of Galileo satellites in orbit to 10.
“The pair are being stepped through an intense series of check-outs, confirmations, mode changes, configurations and health verifications by the joint ESA/CNES mission team working around the clock at ESOC, Darmstadt, Germany,” according to the blog. “The team are now focusing on conducting a series of thruster burns designed to start the drift of the two satellites toward their target orbital positions.”
“Following the burns performed during the LEOP (launch and early orbit phase), the satellites will continue naturally drifting, ending up in their final desired operational orbits at about 23,222 km after another set of thruster burns, planned to achieve fine positioning in orbit, around the end of October,” said Liviu Stefanov, co-flight director from ESA.
With the excellent performance of the spacecraft and the ground teams, the LEOP is expected to wrap up soon.
All the Soyuz stages performed as planned during the September 11 launch, relieving anxieties tied to a faulty Soyuz launch in September of last year. The Fregat upper stage released the satellites into their target orbit close to 23,500 km altitude, around 3 hours and 48 minutes after liftoff.
“The deployment of Europe’s Galileo system is rapidly gathering pace,” said Jan Woerner, director general of the European Space Agency (ESA). “By steadily boosting the number of satellites in space, together with new stations on the ground across the world, Galileo will soon have a global reach. The day of Galileo’s full operational capability is approaching. It will be a great day for Europe.”
Two more Galileo satellites are scheduled for launch by end of this year. These satellites have completed testing at ESA’s ESTEC technical centre in Noordwijk, the Netherlands, with the next two satellites also undergoing their own test campaigns.
More Galileo satellites are being manufactured by OHB in Bremen, Germany, with navigation payloads coming from Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd in the UK, in turn utilizing elements sourced from all across Europe.
“Production of the satellites has attained a regular rhythm,” said Didier Faivre, ESA’s Director of Galileo and Navigation-related Activities. “At the same time, all Galileo testing performed up to now — including that of the ground segment — has been returning extremely positive results.
“And while the continuing deployment of Galileo remains our priority, along with exploitation of EGNOS — Europe’s already operational satellite navigation augmentation system — ESA is also looking farther ahead.
“With the European Commission, we are doing the technical work to ensure Galileo goes on forever — locking in continuity of Europe’s navigation services into the long term, to meet performance on a par with the other global satellite navigation systems.”
Next year Galileo deployment will be boosted by operation of a specially customized Ariane 5 launcher that can double, from two to four, the number of satellites that can be inserted into orbit with a single launch.
European SBAS Advances, Improves
After extensive ground and space testing, the SES-5 GEO satellite has entered into the European Geostationary Navigation Overlay Service (EGNOS) operational platform, broadcasting EGNOS Signal-In-Space (SIS). Replacing Inmarsat-4F2, SES-5 will ensure reliable EGNOS services until 2026, and will enable a range of performance improvements. In particular, EGNOS will offer even greater stability during periods of high ionospheric activity.
“SES-5 is the first step of the complete renewal of the EGNOS Space Segment, securing the EGNOS services for the next decade and the future transition to the dual-frequency multi-constellation services,” said Carlo des Dorides, European GNSS Agency executive director. “It will be completed by the introduction of the ASTRA-5B signals and the procurement of a new EGNOS payload which are both planned for 2016.”
SES-5, carrying EGNOS L1 and L5 band payloads, was launched in July 2012. The integration of a second EGNOS SBAS L1/L5 band payload on SES ASTRA-5B GEO satellite is currently ongoing. The introduction of the second SES GEO satellite for EGNOS is planned at the end of 2016.
GAO Report Spotlghts OCX Delays, Cost Increases
According to a report released by the U.S Government Accountability Office (GAO) on Sept. 9, titled “Actions Needed to Address Ground System Development Problems and User Equipment Production Readiness,” the Air Force has experienced significant difficulties developing the GPS next-generation operational control system (OCX). According to the report, completion of OCX will require $1.1 billion and four years more than planned to deliver OCX. The report Highlights section states, “The Air Force began OCX development in 2010,” and “accelerated OCX development in 2012 to meet optimistic GPS III satellite launch timeframes even as OCX development problems and costs grew, and then paused development in 2013 to address problems and resolve what it believed were root causes.
“However . . . OCX cost and schedule growth have persisted due in part to a high defect rate, which may result from systemic issues. Further, unrealistic cost and schedule estimates limit OSD visibility into and oversight over OCX progress. “ The full report may be read online.
During the course of development the Air Force made changes, updating the specifications for connections to other government systems and in the M-code signal requirements. Officials for Raytheon, the prime OCX contractor, estimated that, as a result of various modifications “nearly two-thirds of the requirements baseline as of [preliminary design review] had changed by mid-2012.” Subsequent software updates and modifications contributed to a high defect rate in the OCX software. “
If you have requirements change at the same time you’re developing the software, it’s more likely that you could have a higher amount of defects that you have to change after the fact,” said Matthew Gilligan, Raytheon’s vice president for navigation and environmental solutions.
The Galileo Control Centre in Oberpfaffenhofen, Germany, monitors and controls the constellation with a high degree of automation. (Photo: ESA)
News courtesy of the European Space Agency
Europe’s latest pair of Galileo satellites has passed its initial check out in space, allowing control to be handed over to the main control centre and join the growing fleet.
“This was a beautifully smooth start to the mission,” said ESA mission director, Richard Lumb. “From liftoff through to handover to the constellation operator and beyond, this has been a textbook performance not only of the satellites but also for all the operations and manufacturer teams on the ground.”
Galileos 9 and 10 were launched on Sept. 11. Their individual lives began within four hours, as they separated from their rocket’s final stage, overseen from ESA’s ESOC operations centre in Darmstadt, Germany. Days of round-the-clock effort followed, to bring the satellites to life, beginning with closely monitoring the unfolding of their solar wings and their pointing towards the Sun.
The various satellite elements were methodically switched on, their health checked and readied for work. Liviu Stefanov, an ESA flight director, described the process as “one of the smoothest yet.” The satellites fired their thrusters to drift towards their target orbital positions at around 23,222 km altitude — helped along in this case by a near-perfect orbital injection to begin with.
Firings will resume around the end of October to stop the drift and achieve fine positioning in orbit, guided by ESOC’s specialist flight dynamics team.
The accuracy of the Galileo system relies on the orbital position of its satellites being fixed to a very high level of precision.
Once on their way, the satellites were handed over on 19 and 20 September, respectively, to the Galileo Control Centre in Oberpfaffenhofen, Germany managed by SpaceOpal.
The team of engineers from ESA and France’s CNES space agency are preparing for the next launch, scheduled for December. The early phase for Galileos 11 and 12 will be overseen from CNES in Toulouse, France, which alternates with ESOC as hosts.
The navigation payloads on Galileos 9 and 10 still need to undergo detailed testing, led from ESA’s Redu centre in Belgium with the support of both Oberpfaffenhofen and the second Galileo Control Centre in Fucino, Italy, which has oversight of Galileo’s navigation mission.
This phase ensures the latest satellites’ navigation and search and rescue payloads are operating normally, giving them a clean bill of health before they can join the Galileo constellation.
Galileo satellites 9 and 10 are functioning perfectly, and the initial series of flight operations is continuing as part of the critical launch and early orbit phase, according to a European Space Agency Rocket Science blog by Daniel Scuka.
Galileo 9 and 10 lifted off together at 02:08 GMT on Sept. 11 from Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana atop a Soyuz launcher, bringing to 10 the total number of Galileo satellites in orbit.
“The pair are being stepped through an intense series of check-outs, confirmations, mode changes, configurations and health verifications by the joint ESA/CNES mission team working around the clock at ESOC, Darmstadt, Germany,” Daniel writes. “The team are now focusing on conducting a series of thruster burns designed to start the drift of the two satellites toward their target orbital positions.”
“Following the burns performed during the LEOP (launch and early orbit phase), the satellites will continue naturally drifting, ending up in their final desired operational orbits at about 23,222 km after another set of thruster burns, planned to achieve fine positioning in orbit, around the end of October,” said Liviu Stefanov, co-flight director from ESA.
With the excellent performance of the spacecraft and the ground teams, the LEOP is expected to wrap up soon.
Soyuz launches Galileo 9 and 10 into orbit on Sept.10. (Credit: Arianespace)
Arianespace’s 12th Soyuz flight from the Spaceport in French Guiana orbited two more spacecraft for Europe’s Galileo satellite navigation system on Sept. 10.
2015 is an important year for Arianespace at the service of European institutions, with 11 payloads to be orbited utilizing the company’s family of Soyuz, the heavy-lift Ariane 5 and lightweight Vega, Arianespace Chairman and CEO Stéphane Israël said after the liftoff.
Departing the Spaceport’s ELS launch complex near the city of Sinnamary at the planned exact liftoff time of 11:08:10 p.m. (local time in French Guiana), Soyuz deployed its two latest Galileo passengers after a flight of just under three hours and 47 minutes. This included the propulsion of Soyuz’ first three stages and two burns of its Fregat upper stage.
Israël noted these are the ninth and tenth Galileo spacecraft orbited by Arianespace, joining a constellation that ultimately will consist of 30 satellites. The satellites, named Alba and Oriana, are the latest FOC (Full Operational Capability) satellites, which are to operate in Galileo’s Orbital Plane A — one of three orbital planes being populated by the European navigation spacecraft.
The European Commission is managing and funding Galileo’s FOC phase, during which the network’s complete operational and ground infrastructure is being deployed. Design and procurement agent responsibilities have been delegated to the European Space Agency (ESA) on the Commission’s behalf.
Arianespace is set to launch two more satellites with Soyuz by year-end, before handing this task over to Ariane 5 beginning in 2016 with a launch carrying four satellites. One more Soyuz and two more Ariane 5s will continue the activity in 2017-2018.
“Galileo keeps us busy, and Arianespace is very proud to be the reference partner of this European flagship space program,” Israël said.
After expressing his appreciation to the European Commission and ESA for their confidence, he noted that 2015 is an important year for Arianespace at the service of European institutions, with 11 payloads to be orbited utilizing the company’s family of Soyuz, the heavy-lift Ariane 5 and lightweight Vega.
“These satellites address all space applications: navigation, Earth observation, science and technology, meteorology and secured communications,” Israël explained. “Thanks to our launcher family, we are fully capable of addressing all needs of European institutions.”
Soyuz’ flight with Galileo’s Alba and Oriana satellites occurred during the eighth of 12 Arianespace missions planned for 2015 — which will be a new record for the company’s launcher family. Its preparations at the Spaceport included the first use of the new FCube fueling facility, which is part of improvements in French Guiana to increase launch capacity, flexibility and schedule robustness.
Israël acknowledged those who contributed to this latest Arianespace success, including the Russian federal space agency, Roscosmos, and the country’s industrial partners; along with the European support companies; the French CNES space agency, and Arianespace own teams.
Galileo 9 and 10 lift off. (Credit: ESA)
Galileo 9 and 10 lift off.(Credit: ESA)
Soyuz launches Galileo 9 and 10 into orbit on Sept.10. (Credit: Arianespace)
Soyuz launches Galileo 9 and 10 into orbit on Sept.10. (Credit: Arianespace)
Europe’s own satellite navigation system has come a step nearer to completion today with Galileo 9 and 10, which lifted off together at 02:08 GMT on Sept. 11 from Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana atop a Soyuz launcher.
All the Soyuz stages performed as planned, with the Fregat upper stage releasing the satellites into their target orbit close to 23 500 km altitude, around 3 hours and 48 minutes after liftoff.
“The deployment of Europe’s Galileo system is rapidly gathering pace,” said Jan Woerner, director general of the European Space Agency (ESA). “By steadily boosting the number of satellites in space, together with new stations on the ground across the world, Galileo will soon have a global reach. The day of Galileo’s full operational capability is approaching. It will be a great day for Europe.”
Two more Galileo satellites are scheduled for launch by end of this year. These satellites have completed testing at ESA’s ESTEC technical centre in Noordwijk, the Netherlands, with the next two satellites also undergoing their own test campaigns.
Galileo 9 and 10 lift off. (Photo: ESA)
More Galileo satellites are being manufactured by OHB in Bremen, Germany, with navigation payloads coming from Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd in the UK, in turn utilizing elements sourced from all across Europe.
“Production of the satellites has attained a regular rhythm,” said Didier Faivre, ESA’s Director of Galileo and Navigation-related Activities. “At the same time, all Galileo testing performed up to now — including that of the ground segment — has been returning extremely positive results.
“And while the continuing deployment of Galileo remains our priority, along with exploitation of EGNOS — Europe’s already operational satellite navigation augmentation system — ESA is also looking farther ahead.
“With the European Commission, we are doing the technical work to ensure Galileo goes on forever — locking in continuity of Europe’s navigation services into the long term, to meet performance on a par with the other global satellite navigation systems.”
Next year the deployment of the Galileo system will be boosted by the entry into operation of a specially customized Ariane 5 launcher that can double, from two to four, the number of satellites that can be inserted into orbit with a single launch.
On Sept. 7, the upper composite containing Galileos 9–10 was transferred to the launch pad, then hoisted up to the top of the Soyuz launch tower to be joined to the other stages.
Galileo 9 and 10 are due for launch atop a Soyuz rocket at 02:08 GMT on Sept. 11 (04:08 CEST; 23:08 local time, Sept. 10) from Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana. Streaming starts at 01:48 GMT (03:48 CEST) on the European Space Agency website. Or watch at Arianespace’s website (with commentary in French or English), starting 15 minutes before liftoff. You can also follow the launch live on your iPhone or iPad using the free Arianespace.tv app.
The first three stages of the Soyuz rocket take the Galileo satellites and their Fregat upper stage into low orbit. Then the reignitable Fregat, as much a spacecraft as a rocket stage, will take over the task of hauling the satellites higher through a pair of burns.
The satellites will be released in opposite directions by their dispenser once they reach their set 22 522 km-altitude orbit 3 h 47 min 57 sec after launch.
The webstream will cover the launch and orbital insertion in two parts, the first starting at 01:48 GMT (03:48 CEST) and ending at 02:40 GMT (04:40 CEST). The second part will begin at 05:43 GMT (07:43 CEST) and end at 06:50 GMT (08:50 CEST).
Two more satellites are scheduled for launch by end of this year. One is under test at ESA’s ESTEC technical centre in Noordwijk, the Netherlands, while the other has already completed its checks and is awaiting shipping to Kourou in the second half of October.
In addition, the first satellite of the following batch (Galileo-13) is undergoing its thermal-vacuum test at ESTEC, while the second (Galileo-14) arrived on Monday.
The Soyuz launcher is transferred to the launch pad. (Credit: Arianespace)
I had the honour of the first question at today’s Galileo press conference hosted by the European Space Agency (ESA), and it was about the status of the satellites launched last March. The answer to that question and others are below.
The satellites being launched this evening are destined for Plane A and will be its first occupants. They will occupy slots 5 and 8 in the plane. They will undergo a 76-day-long in-orbit test procedure before being made available to users.
The satellites launched in March, Galileo satellites 7 and 8 (a.k.a. FOC-FM3 or GSAT0203 and FOC-FM4 or GSAT0204 using PRNs 26 and 22, respectively), have essentially completed in-orbit testing and should be available to users sometime this month.
The ground segment is to be modified to enable the production of navigation messages for satellites 5 and 6 (a.k.a. FOC-FM1 or GSAT0201 and FOC-FM2 or GSAT0202 using PRNs 18 and 14, respectively) launched in August 2014 into wrong orbits (a “kind of Plane D” according to one of the ESA officials at the press conference). This will occur by the beginning of 2016 when these satellites will then be available for testing in navigation and positioning applications. They will not be included in the broadcast almanac as the orbits are too far from nominal to be represented by the standard almanac format. But the signals should be fully usable by those receivers and chipsets that can acquire and track Galileo satellites without an almanac. Testing will be carried out to see if the satellites can become part of the operational constellation.
IOV-4 (a.k.a. FM4 or GSAT0104 using PRN 20), the in-orbit validation satellite that suffered a power failure in May 2014 and is only broadcasting on the E1 frequency, may become operational for single-frequency use if suitable ground segment modifications can be made.
The next Galileo launch after this evening’s will be in December on a Soyuz launcher when another two satellites will be placed into orbit.
In 2016, there will be one launch but using, for the first time, the Ariane 5 launcher, to place four satellites into orbit.
In 2017, there will be two launches: a Soyuz launch orbiting two satellites, and an Ariane 5 launch, orbiting four satellites.
A 30-satellite constellation will be in place by 2020, following ESA’s slogan “30 satellites by 2020,” with 10 satellites per plane with each plane having two spare satellites. This should be feasible as two satellites are now being manufactured every three months. Twenty-four satellites is the minimum for Galileo operational capability.
Galileos 9 and 10 are lowered onto the Fregat upper stage.
Galileo 9 and 10 are ready for launch atop a Soyuz rocket at 23:08 local time on Sept. 10 (02:08 GMT and 04:08 CEST on Sept. 11) from Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana.
After being attached to their carrier last week, the pair of fully fueled satellites was carefully lowered onto the Fregat upper stage on Wednesday, Sept. 2, in the 3SB preparation building of the Guiana Space Centre. The following day was devoted to functional checks and inspections, preparing the Galileos plus Fregat to be encapsulated within the halves of their Soyuz rocket fairing, which took place on Sept. 4. This complete “upper composite” was then transported to the launch site and attached vertically to the first three stages of the Soyuz ST-B, the 12th Soyuz to be operated from the spaceport.
As much a spacecraft as a launcher stage, the re-ignitable Fregat will take the Galileos the bulk of the way to their designated medium-altitude orbit once the first three stages achieve low orbit, 9 minutes and 24 seconds after launch. A pair of Fregat firings will be separated by a 3-hour, 13-minute coast up to their target 23,222 km orbital altitude and 57.394° inclination.
Soyuz in Launch Zone. The basic three-stage vehicle for Arianespace’s Sept. 10 Flight VS12 rolled out from its MiK integration building in the Spaceport’s northwestern sector this morning, and was transferred horizontally to the ELS launch zone by a transporter/erector rail car.
The Soyuz rocket is moved to the launch pad and lifted into a vertical position.
The Soyuz was then erected in a vertical position and suspended over the launch pad, held in place by four large support arms. This was followed by the 53-meter-tall mobile gantry’s move-in to protect the launcher, providing a safe environment for installation of the “upper composite” containing the Galileo satellites.
Galileo 9 and 10 are the fifth and sixth Galileo FOC (full operational capability) spacecraft, and have been designated “Alba” and “Oriana” — continuing the naming process after children who won a painting competition organized by the European Commission in 2011. The satellites were built by OHB System, with Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd. supplying their navigation payloads.
The European Commission is managing and funding Galileo’s FOC phase — during which the network’s complete operational and ground infrastructure is being deployed. The European Space Agency has been delegated as the design and procurement agent on the Commission’s behalf.
Two More this Year. Two further satellites are scheduled for launch by the end of this year. One is under test at ESA’s ESTEC technical centre in Noordwijk, the Netherlands, while the other has already completed its checks and is awaiting transportation to Kourou in the second half of October. In addition, the first satellite of the following batch (Galileo 13) has arrived at ESTEC and is undergoing its thermal-vacuum test. The next will arrive by mid-September.
Follow Arianespace’s launch activity on its website.
ESOC serves as the Operations Control Centre for ESA missions and hosts ESA’s Main Control Room (shown here), combined Dedicated Control Rooms for specific missions and the ESTRACK Control Centre, which manages ESA’s worldwide ground tracking stations.
Mission Control’s Mission. When the next pair of Galileo satellites is boosted into orbit on Friday, a team of mission control experts in Darmstadt, Germany, will spring into action, working around the clock to bring the duo through their critical first days in space. The fiery ascent to space will last just over nine minutes, after which the Fregat upper stage will fire twice to place the satellites into their release orbit.
Separation from Fregat, about 3 hours and 48 minutes into flight, marks the start of the critical early orbits for the team at ESA’s European Space Operation Centre in Darmstadt. Within the combined flight control team from ESA and France’s CNES space agency, each position is paired with its counterpart from the other agency and mixed “CNESOC” shifts will rotate to conduct operations around the clock. The same team conducts all the Galileo early operations alternately from ESOC and from the CNES control centre in Toulouse, France.
“Upon separation, the team will be very focused, and we’ll be watching for a number of critical events on the satellites to happen automatically at the right time and in the right order,” said ESA’s Liviu Stefanov, lead flight director for this phase. “The satellite must switch on, go into a basic flight configuration, deploy its solar wings for power, orient them towards the Sun and acquire Sun-pointing attitude. “As soon as we get communications, we’ll check its health and start sending commands to configure the satellite after completion of the automatic sequence and prepare it for the next major activity: pointing Galileo towards Earth.”
The intense activity will begin the 10-day early operations phase, during which the joint team will work 24 hours/day to oversee steps to prepare the satellites for handover to the Galileo Control Centre in Oberpfaffenhofen, for routine operations, and ESA’s Redu Centre in Belgium, for detailed payload testing.
The logos of the two new satellites in the Galileo constellation are placed on the launcher fairing.
Photo Gallery
Galileos 9 and 10 are lowered onto the Fregat upper stage. (Credit: CNES/ESA)
Galileos 9 and 10 are lowered onto the Fregat upper stage.(Credit: CNES/ESA)
Galileo 9 and 10 on their dispenser being lifted towards the gold-insulation-covered Fregat upper stage. (Credit: CNES/ESA)
Galileos 9 and 10 are lowered onto the Fregat upper stage.(Credit: CNES/ESA)
Galileos 9 and 10 are lowered onto the Fregat upper stage. (Credit: CNES/ESA)
Galileos 9 and 10 are lowered onto the Fregat upper stage. (Credit: CNES/ESA)
The Soyuz launcher is transferred to the launch pad. (Credit: Arianespace)
The Soyuz rocket is moved to the launch pad and lifted into a vertical position. (Credit: Arianespace)
The Soyuz launcher is transferred to the launch pad. (Credit: Arianespace)
The logos of the two new satellites in the Galileo constellation are placed on the launcher fairing. (Credit: CNES)
The logos of the two new satellites in the Galileo constellation are placed on the launcher fairing. (Credit: CNES)
The logos of the two new satellites in the Galileo constellation are placed on the launcher fairing. (Credit: CNES)
The logos of the two new satellites in the Galileo constellation are placed on the launcher fairing. (Credit: CNES)
ESOC serves as the Operations Control Centre for ESA missions and hosts ESA’sMain Control Room (shown here), combined Dedicated Control Rooms for specificmissions and the ESTRACK Control Centre, which manages ESA’s worldwide groundtracking stations. (Credit: ESA)
Artist’s view of Galileo satellites attached to their dispenser atop their Fregat upper stage separating from the Soyuz upper stage. The Fregat then flies them the rest of the way up to medium-Earth orbit. (Credit: ESA)
The Galileo GNSS. (artist’s rendering, courtesy ESA)
UPDATED 08/28/15 with information from the European Space Agency.
Europe’s ninth and tenth Galileo satellites were fueled Aug. 24 by technicians in protective SCAPE suits within the Guiana Space Centre’s 3SB preparation building. This left the satellites ready to be attached to their launcher upper stage in preparation for launch. (Photo:ESA)
The two European Galileo navigation satellites for Arianespace’s next mission from French Guiana have been fueled at the Spaceport, readying them for integration with their Soyuz launcher.
Galileo full operational capability (FOC) satellites 9 and 10 were “topped off” during activity this week at the Spaceport’s S3B payload preparation facility, further advancing preparations for the Sept. 10 mission — which is designated Flight VS12 in Arianespace’s launcher family numbering system, signifying the 12th liftoff of the medium-lift Soyuz vehicle from French Guiana. Lift-off is scheduled for 02:08:10 p.m. UTC.
Flight VS12’s satellites are the fifth and sixth in Galileo’s FOC phase. They were produced by OHB System, with Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd. supplying their navigation payloads that will generate precise positioning measurements and services around the world.
The Sept. 10 mission will be the fifth Soyuz flight with Galileo satellites performed by Arianespace from French Guiana — a series that began with the Russian-built launcher’s inaugural liftoff at the Spaceport in Oct. 2011.
At full deployment, the Galileo program will consist of 30 satellites — comprising operational spacecraft and reserves — situated on three circular medium Earth orbits at some 23,200 km. altitude inclined 56 degrees to the equator. The constellation — and associated ground infrastructure — will provide high-quality positioning, navigation and timing services under civilian control, and be interoperable with GPS and the Russian GLONASS.
Galileo’s FOC phase is managed and funded by the European Commission, with the European Space Agency delegated as the design and procurement agent on the commission’s behalf.
Arianespace Flight VS12 will be the company’s eighth mission this year, following the successful launches in 2015 of four heavy-lift Ariane 5s, two lightweight Vega vehicles, and one Soyuz.
Technicians donned spacesuit-like SCAPE (Self Contained Atmospheric Protective Ensemble) suits to fill each satellite with sufficient hydrazine fuel for their planned 12 years of operations in space, the European Space Agency describes in a news release. This fuel is needed for fine-tuning of their orbital paths following their launch, followed by routine orbital and attitude control over the course of their working lives.
Each Galileo satellite needs to keep its navigation antenna trained on Earth’s disc at all times, employing dedicated infrared Earth and Sun sensors for this purpose. This marked the first time Galileo had been fuelled within the Guiana Space Centre’s 3SB preparation building. Previously, the S5 fuelling building was dedicated to this purpose, but upgrades by Arianespace mean fuelling can now take place at the same location where they will subsequently be attached to their Fregat upper stage, streamlining the satellite preparation process. Completion of fuelling means the two satellites are essentially ready for launch — what needs to be accomplished now is to first attach the Galileos to their launch dispenser, then to fix this in turn to their Fregat.
The satellites plus Fregat will then be encapsulated within the launcher fairing, after which this ‘upper composite’ can then be attached to the other three stages of the Soyuz ST-B launcher. The latest Galileo launch campaign commenced at the end of July, with the arrival of the satellites in French Guiana on July 24. A “fit check” followed, to confirm the satellites as delivered in Kourou did indeed fit onto the dispenser that will first secure them in place during launch and then pyrotechnically eject them into their orbits once their target 23 222 km altitude medium-Earth orbit has been reached. This was followed by in-depth system checks and final settings of onboard navigation and data handling software parameters.
Two further Galileo satellites are still scheduled for launch by end of this year. One of these satellites is completing testing at ESA’s ESTEC technical centre in Noordwijk, the Netherlands, while the other one has already completed its testing and is awaiting transportation to Kourou in the second half of October.
In addition the first satellite of the following batch has arrived at ESTEC and is currently undergoing its thermal vacuum test. Another flight model will arrive at ESTEC by mid-September.
