Can't keep Galileo down: Second one successfully launched

William Atkins
Sunday, 27 April 2008 21:50

Science - Space

The Galileo system, with its thirty satellites, is expected to be operational by 2013. Several ground stations here on Earth will control the system.

The next step for the Galileo system is its In-Orbit Validation (IOV) phase, which consists of the launch of its first four operational satellites. The IOV will be used to confirm the accuracy and reliability of the system. These four launches are expected to be completed by 2010.

When the validation phase is considered completed, the remaining twenty-six operational satellites will be launched during its Full Operational Capability (FOC) phase.

Officials with the European satellite network system are hopeful that they can both compete and partner with the dominant U.S. Global Positioning System (GPS).

In fact, the ESA GIOVE-B website states, “Galileo will be Europe's very own global navigation satellite system, providing a highly accurate, guaranteed global positioning service under civil control. It will be interoperable with the US Global Positioning System (GPS) and Russia's GLONASS, the two other global satellite navigation systems. Galileo will deliver real-time positioning accuracy down to the metre range with unrivalled integrity."

In addition, "Numerous applications are planned for Galileo, including positioning and derived value-added services for transport by road, rail, air and sea, fisheries and agriculture, oil-prospecting, civil protection, building, public works and telecommunications.” [ESA Galileo Launch – GIOVE-B: “ESA's most advanced navigation satellite launched tonight”]

The ESA website of GIOVE-B is found at “ESA Launch – GIOVE-B.”

Giove is Italian for “Jupiter.” The name was chosen as an acronym for the project (GIOVE: Galileo In-Orbit Validation Element) as an honor to Italian astronomer, physicist, mathematician, and philosopher Galileo Galilei (1564-1642), who discovered the first four moons of Jupiter.

The website of the GIOVE Processing Center is: "Galileo GIOVE."