This week the first two Full Operating Capability (FOC) Galileo satellites will be launched on a Soyuz rocket from the Guiana Space Centre, French Guiana.
These will be the 5th and 6th satellites to join the EU's growing GNSS constellation.
The satellites are expected to go live this autumn and will be joined by the next two later in the year paving the way for the start of initial services. The UK has played a vital role in both the policy and the technical development of Europe's global navigation satellite system. Galileo is owned by the European Commission (EC) with the European Space Agency (ESA) acting in partnership as the technical design and procurement authority. Galileo's key differentiator from other similar systems is that it is a civil system under civil control.
The satellites, destined for a MEO Orbit at approximately 23,500km above the earth. Following the launch, a week of system checks will follow the launch, including testing of the critical navigation payloads manufactured by Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd of Guildford, UK.
Designed to be inter-operable with GPS, the US global satellite navigation system, receivers that are equipped with the right chipsets will be able to utilise signals from both systems to provide a more accurate and reliable global positioning service.
Initially the Galileo Programme envisages three aspects of the constellation capability to be demonstrated under 'Early Services'. It is expected that these services should be demonstrated from October 2014, then as the constellation is built-up beyond that, new services will be tested and made available to reach Full Operational Capability (FOC). These services include:
- Open Service. Free of charge and dedicated to consumer applications and general-interest navigation.
- Commercial Service. Accessible only via payment of a fee to the Galileo operator. Used by professional consumers prepared to pay for superior performance.
- Search and Rescue Service. Relays the location of distress signal to the nearest rescue centre, and informs the source that that signal has been received and that help is on its way. Compatible with existing international satellite-based search and rescue systems.
- Public Regulated Service. Highly restricted service for government applications such as law enforcement. More robust signal to protect it from jamming and deliberate interference.
- Safety of Life Service. Information on the reliability of the signal is given so that it can be used in safety-critical applications (e.g. aircraft).
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