ESA Celebrates GIOVE-A Anniversary — Galileo Future Brighter!

It will be have been two years on December 28th since the first Galileo satellite, GIOVE-A, was launch from Baikonur in Kazakhstan on a Soyuz rocket. Galileo signals have been broadcast by GIOVE-A since January of 2006 and they’ve been received all around the globe. A lab at the European Space Agency‘s research and technology center in The Netherlands continues to check the instruments on board the spacecraft that braodcast the signals as well as the ground stations. The next step in the Galileo program is under way, that being GIOVE-B, which is undergoing launch prep in ESA’s test facilities. This second Galileo satellite will see the most accurate atomic clock flown in space, which will contribute to the overall quality of the performance of this system. To reach operational status, Galileo needs a constellation of 30 satellites and an associated network of ground stations all around the world. This phase has just been confirmed with the decisions taken by the European Union… all have agreed on a financing package of 3.4 billion euros and will entrust ESA with the full deployment of Galileo by 2013.