At a Thursday morning, Dec. 15, ceremony in Brussels titled “Galileo Goes Live,” two high officials of the European Commission issued the Galileo Initial Services Declaration.

The Declaration of Initial Services means that the Galileo satellites and ground infrastructure are now operationally ready. These signals will be highly accurate but not available all the time, since the constellation is not yet complete and users cannot always count on four satellites being visible at one time at all points on the Earth.

A series of notice advisory to Galileo users or NAGUs describe the flag status of each satellite. USABINIT NAGUs were issued for 11 satellites: 0101, 0102, 0103, 0203, 0204, 0205, 0206, 0208, 0209, 0210, and 0211. USABINIT, or Initially Usable, notifies users that a satellite is set healthy for the first time. 0104 had a power problem and is operating on E1 only. 0201 and 0202 were launched into lower orbits. 0207 and 0212-0214 are still undergoing commissioning and drifting to their designated orbital slots. Read more…

With 18 Galileo satellites in orbit, supporting ground infrastructure, and after an extensive testing period, Galileo Initial Services are now available for public authorities, businesses and citizens. From now on, users around the world can be guided using the positioning, navigation and timing information provided by Galileo’s global satellite constellation. Read more…