Press release
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may 23, 2016 - European Space Agency
Galileo satellites enclosed for launch
Europe’s latest #galileosatellites have been seen for the last time by human eyes. They were placed atop their upper stage then enclosed within their protective rocket fairing, ready for launch next Tuesday, 24 May.
Galileos 13 and 14 are scheduled to lift off at 08:48:43 GMT (05:48:43 local time, 10:48:43 CEST) on 24 May from Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana atop a Soyuz launcher.
The encapsulation took place on Wednesday, 18 May inside the Spaceport’s cleanroom, as a two-piece Soyuz fairing was closed around the satellites, attached to their carrier atop the Fregat upper stage.
The satellites had been installed on Fregat the previous day. This versatile upper stage will haul them the bulk of the way to their target 23 500 km-altitude orbit.
The sealed satellites, dispenser and upper stage are collectively known as the ‘upper composite’. Today, the plan is to roll out the first three stages of Galileo’s Soyuz to the launch pad, ready for mating with this upper composite.
This will be the seventh Galileo launch, set to bring the number of satellites in space up to 14. Four more Galileos are planned to take flight in the autumn, launched for the first time on a customised Ariane 5 to bring the total number of satellites in the constellation to 18.
About Galileo
Galileo is Europe’s civil global satellite navigation system. It will allow users worldwide to know their exact position in time and space with great precision and reliability. Once complete, the system will consist of 24 operational satellites and the ground infrastructure to enable the provision of positioning, navigation and timing services.
The Galileo programme is funded and owned by the EU. The European Commission has the overall responsibility for the programme, managing and overseeing the implementation of all programme activities.
Galileo’s deployment, the design and development of the new generation of systems and the technical development of infrastructure are entrusted to ESA. The definition, development and in-orbit validation phases were carried out by ESA, and co-funded by ESA and the European Commission.
The European Global Navigation Satellite System Agency (GSA) is ensuring the uptake and security of Galileo. From 2017 Galileo operations and provision of Galileo services will be entrusted to the GSA.
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