On 21 August, at 12:31 UTC/14:31 CEST, a Soyuz rocket will launch the fifth and six of ESA's Galileo satellites from Europe's Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana.
These are the first ‘Full Operational Capability’ satellites for the deployment phase of Galileo, following the so-called 'In Orbit Validation’ (IOV) phase, which allowed the European Space Agency (ESA) to make sure that the design of the Galileo system provided its expected performance both in space and on the ground.
Now it is time to build the full Galileo constellation, allowing full deployment to take place, the IOV satellites having paved the way for this European navigation programme, the first civilian system with worldwide services.
This phase of the Galileo programme is being managed and funded by the European Commission, with ESA acting as design and procurement agent on behalf of the Commission.
This video recalls the success of the In Orbit Validation phase and explains what will be the mission of these fifth and sixth Galileo satellites.
It includes an interview with Sylvain Loddo, ESA's Galileo Ground Segment Manager.
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