GPS World

Tag: GEO-3

  • EGNOS GEO-3’s launch satellite has solar array problem

    EGNOS GEO-3’s launch satellite has solar array problem

    Eutelsat Communications is investigating an incident on one of the two solar arrays on its Eutelsat 5 West B satellite. The satellite, launched Oct. 9, carries a payload for the European GNSS Agency (GSA) called GEO-3. GEO-3 is designed to be aboard a geostationary satellite to augment GNSS signals.

    Eutelsat is working to assess the potential impact on the performance of the satellite and will communicate on it as quickly as possible, according to a statement from the company.

    Eutelsat Communications said the satellite is fully insured against the eventuality of loss by a launch-plus-one-year insurance.

    Eutelsat 5 West B hosts the GEO-3 payload of the European Geostationary Navigation Overlay System (EGNOS) under a 15-year agreement signed in 2017 with the European GNSS Agency (GSA), and valued at approximately $112 million dollars (102 million euros).

    The EGNOS payload, manufactured by Airbus Defence and Space, will hone the accuracy of satellite navigation signals over Europe for use in aviation, maritime and other industries as part of the European Geostationary Navigation Overlay System (EGNOS).

    Revenues generated in Financial Year 2018-19 by Eutelsat 5 West A, the satellite that West B is intended to replace, amounted to about $33.3 million (30 million euros).

    Feature image: Orbit ATK

  • Next-generation EGNOS satellite orbited for GSA

    Next-generation EGNOS satellite orbited for GSA

    Image: GSA
    Image: GSA

    A Eutelsat communications satellite launched Oct. 9 carried a payload for the European GNSS Agency (GSA) called GEO-3. GEO-3 is a geostationary satellite designed to augment GNSS signals.

    The EGNOS payload, manufactured by Airbus Defence and Space, will hone the accuracy of satellite navigation signals over Europe for use in aviation, maritime and other industries as part of the European Geostationary Navigation Overlay System (EGNOS).

    The Eutelsat-5 West B satellite also hosts a payload that will enable service continuity for television broadcasting in Europe and North Africa.

    The GSA signed a contract in March 2017 with Eutelsat Communications for the development, integration and operation of the next-generation GEO-3 EGNOS payload.

    EGNOS operational messages are broadcast via navigation payloads on-board two GEO satellites, including an Inmarsat-3F2 satellite that is fast approaching end-of-life. The GEO-3 services replenish the EGNOS SBAS payloads, guaranteeing EGNOS availability and supporting the transition to the dual-frequency multi-constellation-capable EGNOS V3.

    Eutelsat will also develop two redundant RF ground stations to uplink the EGNOS message to the payload. It will also host EGNOS’ Navigation Land Earth Stations (NLES) in Rambouillet, France, and Cagliari, Italy, both of which will be co-located and connected to the RF ground stations.

    Proton-powered launch

    The satellite was carried aloft on a Proton rocket along with a second satellite, the Mission Extension Vehicle-1 for Northrop Grumman subsidiary SpaceLogistics, designed to service satellites. Both spacecraft were built by  Northrop Grumman.

    The Proton rocket lifted off at 6:18 a.m. Eastern Time from Russia’s Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. Its two passengers separated from the rocket 16 hours later in a supersynchronous transfer orbit.

    Eutelsat-5 West B is a replacement for the 17-year-old Eutelsat-5 West A satellite.

    artist's depiction, ILS/Loral
    SES-5 GEO satellite (Artist’s depiction: ESA).