The European GNSS Agency (GSA), along with the European GNSS Service Centre (GSC), announce the commissioning of two additional satellites, bringing the total number of satellites available for the Galileo service provision to 18.

The GSA announced beginning of August the completion of in-orbit testing (IOT) of two new Galileo satellites, GSAT0212-SV ID 03- and GSAT0213-SV ID 04 -. Having passed all initial tests, the two satellites are now officially commissioned for operational use and are usable for the Galileo service provision (see NAGU 2017029 and NAGU 2017033).

The satellites join GSAT0207-SV ID 07- and GSAT02014-SV ID -5 -, which were previously commissioned on 30 May 2017, increasing the total number of satellites available for use with the Galileo service provision to 18. All four satellites were launched on 17 November 2016 from Kourou, French Guiana – the first launch using an Ariane-5 rocket.

Four additional satellites are expected to be launched in the coming months, further enlarging the Galileo constellation and improving its global performance. Launches will continue until the system reaches Full Operational Capability in 2020. The complete constellation will consist of 30 satellites in orbit (24 operational and six spares).