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Galileo Navsat
Galileo Navsat
Galileo Navsat
European navigation satellite. GIOVE B. Galileo was Europe's own global navigation satellite system, providing a highly accurate, guaranteed global positioning service under civilian control. Navigation satellite built by OHB-System GmbH (Bus, prime), SSTL (payload) for ESA, Europe. Launched 2014 - 2016.

AKA: Adam;Alba;Anastasia;David;Doresa;GalileoSat;Milena;Natalia;Orlana;Sif;Thijs. Status: Operational 2011. First Launch: 2011-10-21. Last Launch: 2015-09-11. Number: 10 . Gross mass: 733 kg (1,615 lb).

Despite potential budget overruns and schedule delays, it was considered a strategic necessity, providing Europe with a navigation system for critical applications not subject to control by the Americans (GPS) or Russians (GLONASS). At the same time Galileo would be inter-operable with both GPS and GLONASS.

A user would be able to take a position with the same receiver from any of the satellites in any combination. By offering dual frequencies as standard, however, Galileo would deliver real-time positioning accuracy down to the meter range, which was unprecedented for a publicly available system.

It would guarantee availability of the service under all but the most extreme circumstances and would inform users within seconds of a failure of any satellite. This would make it suitable for applications where safety was crucial, such as running trains, guiding cars and landing aircraft.

The first experimental satellite, part of the so-called Galileo System Test Bed (GSTB) was to be launched in mid-2005. However the project reached almost immediate budget overruns. The objective of this experimental satellite was to characterize the critical technologies, which were already under development under ESA contracts. Thereafter up to four operational satellites would be launched in the timeframe 2005-2006 to validate the basic Galileo space and related ground segment. Once this In-Orbit Validation (IOV) phase had been completed, the remaining satellites would be installed to reach the Full Operational Capability (FOC) in 2008.

The fully deployed Galileo system was to consist of 30 satellites (27 operational + 3 active spares), positioned in three circular Medium Earth Orbit (MEO) planes in 23616 km altitude above the Earth, and at an inclination of the orbital planes of 56 degrees with reference to the equatorial plane. Once this was achieved, the Galileo navigation signals would provide a good coverage even at latitudes up to 75 degrees north, which corresponds to the North Cape, and beyond. The large number of satellites together with the optimization of the constellation, and the availability of the three active spare satellites, would ensure that the loss of one satellite had no discernible effect on the user.

Two Galileo Control Centers (GCC) would be implemented on European ground to provide for the control of the satellites and to perform the navigation mission management. The data provided by a global network of twenty Galileo Sensor Stations (GSS) would be sent to the Galileo Control Centers through a redundant communications network. The GCC's would use the data of the Sensor Stations to compute the integrity information and to synchronize the time signal of all satellites and of the ground station clocks. The exchange of the data between the Control Centers and the satellites would be performed through so-called up-link stations. Five S-band up-link stations and 10 C-band up-link stations would be installed around the globe for this purpose.

As a further feature, Galileo would provide a global Search and Rescue (SAR) function, based on the operational Cospas-Sarsat system. To do so, each satellite would be equipped with a transponder, which would be able to transfer the distress signals from the user transmitters to the Rescue Co-ordination Centre, which would then initiate the rescue operation. At the same time, the system would provide a signal to the user, informing him that his situation had been detected and that help was under way. This latter feature was new and was considered a major upgrade compared to the existing system, which did not provide a feedback to the user.

More at: Galileo Navsat.
Family: Navigation. Country: Europe. Launch Vehicles: R-7, Soyuz-FG, Soyuz-ST-B, Soyuz ST / Fregat ST. Launch Sites: Kourou ZLS, Baikonur, Kourou ELS. Agency: ESA. Bibliography: 728, 12469, 12470, 12471.
Photo Gallery
Galileo NavsatGalileo Navsat
Credit: ESA
Galileo FOC FM01Galileo FOC FM01
Credit: Manufacturer Image
Galileo IOV-3Galileo IOV-3
Credit: Manufacturer Image
GIOVE BGIOVE B
Credit: Manufacturer Image
2011 October 21 - . 10:30 GMT - . Launch Site: Kourou. Launch Complex: Kourou ELS. LV Family: R-7. Launch Vehicle: Soyuz-ST-B.
2012 October 12 - . 18:15 GMT - . Launch Site: Kourou. Launch Complex: Kourou ELS. LV Family: R-7. Launch Vehicle: Soyuz-ST-B.
2014 August 22 - . 03:15 GMT - . Launch Site: Kourou. Launch Complex: Kourou ELS. LV Family: R-7. Launch Vehicle: Soyuz-ST-B.
2015 March 27 - . 21:46 GMT - . Launch Site: Kourou. Launch Complex: Kourou ELS. LV Family: R-7. Launch Vehicle: Soyuz ST / Fregat ST.
2015 September 11 - . 02:08 GMT - . Launch Site: Kourou. Launch Complex: Kourou ZLS. LV Family: R-7. Launch Vehicle: Soyuz ST / Fregat ST.
2015 December 17 - . 11:51 GMT - . Launch Site: Kourou. Launch Complex: Kourou ELS. LV Family: R-7. Launch Vehicle: Soyuz-ST-B.
2016 May 24 - . 08:48 GMT - . Launch Site: Kourou. Launch Complex: Kourou ELS. LV Family: R-7. Launch Vehicle: Soyuz-ST-B.
2016 November 17 - . 13:06 GMT - . Launch Site: Kourou. Launch Complex: Kourou ELA3. LV Family: Ariane 5. Launch Vehicle: Ariane 5ES.
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