The Independent Inquiry Board formed to analyze the causes of the anomaly occurring during the orbital injection of satellites in the Galileo constellation by a Soyuz rocket launched from the Guiana Space Center on August 22 announced its definitive conclusions on Tuesday, October 7, 2014 following a meeting at Arianespace headquarters in Evry, near Paris. Read more…
On Aug. 22 the first two Galileo FOC satellites launched by Soyuz-STB Fregat-MT rocket were placed into the wrong orbit (https://galileognss.eu/galileo-foc-fm1-and-fm2-status-update/). European government officials said that the hydrazine fuel line was installed too close to a supercold helium line on the Fregat upper stage.
The installation caused the hydrazine to freeze long enough to upset the Fregat stage’s orientation and cause the two satellites’ release into an orbit that is both too low and in the wrong inclination, officials said. Read more…
The Soyuz launch vehicle family has provided reliable and efficient launch services since the start of space exploration. Soyuz rockets, which launched both the first artificial satellite and the first man into space, have been credited with more than 1,825 launches to date. Today, Soyuz is used for manned and unmanned flights to the International Space Station, as well as Russian government launches, and commercial launches with Arianespace as launch operator. Read more…
Galileo SATs 5-6 are scheduled to lift off at 12:31 GMT (14:31 CEST, 09:31 local time) on 21 August from Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana on top of a Soyuz rocket.
You can follow free live videostream of the launch on: ESA TV and Arianespace TV
and on the Twitter accounts: @ESA, @Arianespace, @GalileoGNSS and the hashtag #Galileo Read more…
Final functional testing of Galileo satellites has been completed at Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana.
The fuelling of the two satellites, allowing them to fine-tune their orbits and maintain their altitude over the course of their 12-year lifetimes, took place on 7–8 August. Read more…
The next pair of Galileo satellites are due to be launched together on a Soyuz rocket from French Guiana on 21 August, advancing the deployment of Europe’s own satellite navigation constellation.
Following launch, the most crucial point in the flight comes when the two satellites separate from their upper stage and the Launch and Early Operations (LEOP) phase begins, run from ESA’s Space Operations Centre (ESOC) in Darmstadt, Germany. Read more…
Europe’s Arianespace commercial launch consortium agreed to spend 36.5 million euros ($50 million) to build a fueling facility at Europe’s spaceport in Kourou to reduce the time needed between launches of the heavy-lift Ariane 5, medium-lift Soyuz and light-class Vega vehicles.
The building is scheduled to be operational in 2015. CNES (French space agency) owns the property to be used for the new facility, which will be located at the Soyuz launch installation. Read more…