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NEWSBRIEFS – UPDATE

Oct 2008 | Comments Off

INDUSTRY | LBS | GPS | GIS | REMOTE SENSING | GALILEO UPDATE

ESA shortens list of bidders for Galileo

The ESA has listed 11 industrial groups invited to compete for contracts to get Europe’s satellite-navigation system, Galileo, into orbit. They are Italian, Dutch, French, British and German. Galileo now aims to launch its 30 satellites by the end of 2013, giving Galileo users more precision that the current American GPS coverage offers. Europe has already spent 1.6bn euros on Galileo. http://www.euronews.net

Inauguration of the Galileo Control Centre at DLR

On 8 September 2008, the new building complex for the Galileo Control Centre at the German Aerospace Center (Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt; DLR) in Oberpfaffenhofen was formally handed over. The new control centre, with over 3000 square metres of floor space, is a fullyequipped building that has cost about 100 million euro. By the time the Galileo satellite navigation system is fully operational, up to 100 engineers and scientists will be working at over 30 control consoles in the control centre which is part of the core ground segment.
The satellites are controlled and mission data is received through a globally distributed ground station network. The control centre is equipped with state-of-the-art infrastructure in order to meet the high demands made on the Galileo infrastructure and to ensure failurefree operation for the next 20 years. Important navigational data as well as the reference time which is relevant for all Galileo applications are generated on the ground in the control centres and transmitted to the Galileo satellites via the ground stations http://www.dlr.de/en/ desktopdefault.aspx/tabid-1/86_read-13448/

SSTL completes Galileo testing, GIOVE-B functioning well

Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd. (SSTL) has completed in-orbit testing that analyzed signals from the new GIOVEB satellite for the European Space Agency (ESA), determining that the second Galileo satellite is operating well. The analysis further suggests that the technologies integral to the European Unionfunded Galileo satellite navigation project
are valid, according to SSTL During May and June SSTL’s Galileo team processed data acquired by the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC) at its 25-meter dish in Chilbolton, United Kingdom, to analyze the center frequency, signal power, and structure of all three Galileo signals. The team validated the in-orbit signals, which met expectations and correlated with ground tests before launch. In addition to the Galileo Binary Offset Carrier (BOC) signals transmitted by GIOVEA, GIOVE-B, is successfully transmitting the multiplexed binary offset carrier (MBOC) signal in line with the E.U./U.S. agreement on GPS/Galileo signal compatibility reached in 2007. Additional test results also indicate that the hydrogen maser atomic clock onboard GIOVE-B is working correctly.
The maser promises better long term stability and improved accuracy compared to the rubidium clock on board GIOVE-A. Following the GIOVE-B campaign, SSTL retested GIOVE-A for the ESA. The results confirm that GIOVE-A is still performing as it should five months into its mission extension.