GIOVE-B Tests Successful, Including The Wonder Clock

Astrium has started operations in orbit of the GIOVE-B navsat, exactly on schedule. GIOVE-B has been transmitting the highly precise Galileo signal since 02:05 a.m. on May 7th., meeting an important milestone along the road to a European navigation system. In the course of the ‘In-Orbit Validation’ (IOV) phase, which will continue until 2010, the four navigation satellites already being built by prime contractor Astrium will be deployed in space. The mission is going exactly according to plan. The Soyuz rocket, which was launched from Baikonur Cosmodrome at 00:16 (CEST) on April 27th, placed GIOVE-B in the Galileo orbit. The experts at the control centre in Fucino, Italy, then ordered the navsat into its specified operational configuration. They then tested GIOVE-B’s individual system functions to make certain they were still in full working order after the stress of the launch. Once the tests on GIOVE-B had been successfully completed, the payload was activated. The first signal was transmitted fully exploiting the unsurpassed accuracy of the world’s most precise clock, the S-PHM. GIOVE-B demos the functionality and advanced technology of European satellite navigation in the best possible way. The key components of Galileo, especially the innovative Space Passive Hydrogen Maser (S-PHM) and the upgraded signal generator, are enjoying their debut in space on board the satellite. As well as designing and manufacturing the payload, Astrium in Portsmouth (UK) was also responsible for the development, installation, and test of the Ground Satellite Control system at the operations centre in Fucino, Italy, as well as at the IOT (In Orbit Test) station in Redu, Belgium, which also included the antenna—Ottobrunn, Germany