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Driven to distraction
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3 January 2012 Galileo positioning system: first satellites take flight
Galileo, Europe’s answer to GPS, came a step closed in October with the successful launch of the first two satellites out of a planned total of 30. The next two are due for launch during 2012, and a total of 18 should be in space by 2015, by which time the roll-out programme will have reached what is termed its operational phase. The full 30 are due to be in place by 2020. The first two were launched by a Russian Soyuz vehicle, which was the first ever to be launched from outside Russian territory. It took off from Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana. The satellites will first go into an in-orbit validation (IOV) phase, in which the Galileo system’s space, ground and user segments will be tested extensively. They are being jointly operated during this phase by ESA (the European Space Agency), the organisation behind the project, and CNES French space agency team in Toulouse, France. The Galileo system will replicate the American-run GPS network, and will be interoperable with it, providing backup and enhancing the accuracy of global positioning. The satellites will be positioned in three circular Medium Earth Orbit (MEO) planes at an of altitude of 23,222 km. The system will use 27 of the satellites, while three will provide reserve capacity.
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