Galileo update

Galileo Increases the Accuracy of LBS

The GSA and Rx Networks Inc have announced the results of tests conducted by the company measuring the performance of Galileo when used in various combinations with GPS and GLONASS.

Tests were conducted in real-world environments, including urban canyons and indoors. These environments pose significant challenges to location accuracy due to multipath and obstructed views of satellites. Each test consisted of a threehour data capture of GNSS signals, which was later replayed to produce hundreds of fixes using a multi-constellation GNSS receiver from STMicroelectronics.

The results showed that using Galileo with one or more other GNSS constellations provides significantly more accurate location fixes compared to GPS alone, when indoors or in urban canyons. As expected, the GPS+Galileo combination did not exceed the performance of GPS+GLONASS, due primarily to there only being four Galileo satellites available at the time of the testing.

Arianespace + Soyuz… Prepare To Launch The Fifth In Galileo’s Program

The first two Galileo Full Operational Capability (FOC) satellites are a confirmed “fit” for their Arianespace Soyuz launch later in 2014 after making initial contact with the medium-lift mission’s dualpayload dispenser in French Guiana. This activity, called the fit check, was completed over a two-day period inside the Spaceport’s S1A payload preparation building. The two satellites were installed separately, with the Flight Model #1 (FM1) spacecraft integrated on, and subsequently removed from, the dispenser, followed the next day by the same process for Flight Model #2 (FM2).

The payload dispenser for Galileo was developed by RUAG Space Sweden for Arianespace, and is to carry the Full Operational Capability satellites in a side-by-side arrangement. It will deploy the spacecraft, which were built by Germany-based OHB System, during their Soyuz launch by firing a pyrotechnic separation system to release them in opposite directions at the orbital insertion point.

Final integration on the dispenser is to be performed during future processing at the Spaceport, and will be followed by the completed unit’s installation on Soyuz. These spacecraft will be the system, following four Galileo In-Orbit Validation (IOV) spacecraft previously orbited on two Soyuz missions: a pair on Flight VS01 in October 2011, and two more on Flight VS03 in October 2012.

Galileo Project Update

ESA explains that the new satellite arrived at ESA’s Technical Centre, ESTEC, in Noordwijk, in the Netherlands, safely enclosed within an air-conditioned and environmentally controlled container from manufacturer OHB of Bremen, Germany. Meanwhile, the previous two Galileo satellites have completed their long test campaign and are being readied for shipping to Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana, for launch together by Soyuz. www.marinelink.com