EU successfully launches two Galileo satellites

Following the successful launch of Galileo seven and eight (which lifted off at 22:46 CET, 18:46 local time) on 27 March from Europe’s spaceport in French Guiana on top of a Soyuz rocket, the EU’s Galileo satellite navigation system now has eight satellites in orbit.

Following initial checks, run jointly by ESA and France’s CNES space agency from the CNES Toulouse centre, the two satellites will be handed over to the Galileo Control Centre in Oberpfaffenhofen, Germany and the Galileo in-orbit testing facility in Redu, Belgium, for testing before they are commissioned for operational service. This is expected mid-year.

The new pair will join the six satellites already launched, in October 2011, October 2012 and August 2014.

Jean-Jacques Dordain, director general of ESA, said: “The deployment of the Galileo constellation is restarting with this successful launch. The tests in orbit of satellites five and six have demonstrated the quality and performance of the satellites, and the production of the following ones is well on track. Good news for Galileo.”

Four more satellites are in testing or final integration and scheduled for launch later this year.

A full system capability that includes an encrypted commercial service benefitting from 24 operational satellites and six spares is expected to be in place by 2020.