Monthly Archives: May 2016

ESA & CNES joint team

ESA & CNES joint teamThis week a unique, combined team of specialists are conducting final training at ESA’s ESOC mission control centre to prepare for the 24 May launch of Europe’s next Galileo satellites, a dual launch on a Soyuz rocket from Kourou.

The team comprises over 40 experts drawn from ESA and from France’s CNES space agency, supported by additional specialists at both agencies in areas such as flight dynamics and ground stations.

Within the combined flight control team, each position is paired with its counterpart from the other agency and mixed “CNESOC” shifts will rotate to conduct operations around the clock. Read more…

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SSTL ships “last” navigation payload for Galileo

SSTL_PHMUK satellite manufacturer SSTL has reached a key milestone in its work on Galileo. The company has just shipped its 22nd navigation payload, and the last under its current work contract. Essentially the “brains” of a sat-nav spacecraft, this payload is already in the hands of consortium partner, OHB of Bremen, Germany, which will complete final assembly and testing.

Galileo is expected to begin public services by the end of this year. Twelve satellites are already in orbit transmitting timing and location data. A further two are set to launch on a Soyuz rocket on 24 May. Another four are scheduled to go up on an Ariane rocket before 2016 is out. Read more…

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Launch 7. Payload integration begins

sat-13 integrated on its payload dispenser. Soyuz VS15The first of two Galileo navigation satellites to be orbited on Arianespace’s May 24 Soyuz flight has been integrated on its payload dispenser system, marking a key step as preparations advance for this medium-lift mission from French Guiana.

Named “Danielė”, the spacecraft was installed last week during activity inside the Spaceport’s S3B payload preparation facility. It is to be joined on the dispenser system by the mission’s other passenger, “Alizée”, whose own installation is forthcoming in a side-by-side arrangement.

The pair are then to be mated atop Soyuz’ Fregat upper stage and encapsulated in the protective payload fairing. Prime contractor OHB System in Bremen, Germany produced the satellites, and their onboard payloads are supplied by UK-based Surrey Satellite Technology Limited (SSTL), which is 99-percent owned by Airbus Defence and Space. Read more…

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Galileo 13 & 14 fueled

Galileo satellite 13 and 14 fueledPreparations for Arianespace’s upcoming mission have moved into the fueling phase for the two Galileo navigation satellites that will be orbited by a medium-lift Soyuz on 24 May from the Spaceport in French Guiana.

Technicians donned spacesuit-like protective outfits to handle the toxic hydrazine fuel that will enable the two satellites to fine-tune their orbits and orientation over the course of their working lives of 12 years or more.

The 13th Galileo satellite was fuelled on 3 May, with the 14th being fuelled a day later.

After fuelling both satellites have been connected to “checkout terminal equipment” to enable battery charging and atomic clock monitoring. Read more…

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Satellite 11 & 12 broadcasting navigation signals

ESA's centre in ReduEurope’s latest navigation satellites, launched last December, have been officially commissioned into the Galileo constellation, and are now broadcasting working navigation signals since 22 April.

Galileos 11 and 12 were launched together on a Soyuz rocket from Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana on 17 December. The satellites’ navigation payloads were submitted to a gamut of tests, centred on ESA’s Redu centre in Belgium, which possesses a 20 m-diameter antenna to analyse the satellites’ signals in great detail.

For users to navigate with metre-level accuracy, Galileo must keep extremely accurate time. Because light travels at a fixed speed, just under 30 cm every billionth of a second, the time it takes for Galileo signals to reach a user’s receiver on the ground can be converted into distance. All the receiver has to do is multiply the travel time by the speed of light, pinpointing its location from at least four satellites. Read more…

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