Battleangel

The Galileo project is coming along nicely.

ESA via PhysOrg - The spacecraft, packed in its transport container and accompanied by its support equipment, was taken by road from the European Space Research and Technology Centre (ESTEC) to Amsterdam’s Schiphol airport, where it was loaded onto an Antonov transport plane. GIOVE-A was flown first to Moscow and, after customs formalities had been completed, made the second leg of its air journey to Baikonur, arriving in the early hours of 30 November. It will be placed in orbit by a Soyuz/Fregat launch vehicle, with lift-off scheduled for late December.

GIOVE A is the first of two Galileo In-Orbit Validation Elements, which with its sister spacecraft GIOVE B and their associated ground segment make up the first stage of the in-orbit validation (IOV) of the Galileo system.

The main mission objectives of the GIOVE satellites are to:

• Validate new technologies for operational use
• Demonstrate the feasibility of broadcasting near-real-time orbit determination and time synchronisation data with high accuracy (uncertainty less than 50 cm), as envisaged for the full Galileo system
• Secure the Galileo frequency filings
• Characterise the radiation environment of medium earth orbit that the operational satellites will occupy