Second Galileo spacecraft prepares for launch

07.03.2008

GIOVE-B, the second Galileo in-orbit validation satellite, has successfully completed its test campaign and will depart from ESTEC on 11 March. The spacecraft will be flown to Baikonur, in Kazakhstan, from where it will be carried into orbit by a Starsem Soyuz/Fregat launch vehicle. The launch is scheduled for 04:16:02 local time on 27 April (00:16 CEST, 22:16 UTC [26 April]).

Around 50 members of the press attended the media event. Giuseppe Viriglio, ESA's Director of Telecommunication and Navigation, welcomed the visitors and gave an introduction to ESA's navigation programmes. Paul Verhoef, Head of the Galileo Unit in the Directorate-General for Energy and Transport of the European Commission, presented the Galileo Programme.

Javier Benedicto, ESA's Galileo Project Manager, introduced GIOVE-B and the Galileo in-orbit validation phase. Groups of guests then visited the ESTEC test centre, to see GIOVE-B at the conclusion of its tests, and the Navigation Laboratory, which will play a major role in validating signals from the satellite.

read more from ESA´s webpage.

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