Agency

ESA – Galileo, latest from Kourou.

Date: Wed, Aug 20, 2014 | 10:00 - 10:30 GMT | 12:00 - 12:30 CEST

Type: ESA TV News

The first Galileo satellites of the Full Operational Capability are scheduled to lift off at 12h31 GMT on 21 August from Europe’s Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana on top a Soyuz rocket.

Following the successful In-Orbit Validation phase achieved with the four previous satellites launched in 2011 and 2012, Galileo Sat 5-6 are marking the start of the deployment of the Galileo constellation.

As Europe’s own global navigation system, Galileo will provide a highly accurate, guaranteed global positioning service. As the first complete civil positioning system it will offer quality and integrity guarantees not possible through the military systems that have come before.

By offering dual frequencies as standard, Galileo will deliver real-time positioning accuracy down to the metre range. It will guarantee availability of the service under all but the most extreme circumstances and will inform users within seconds of any satellite failure, making it suitable for safety-critical applications such as guiding cars, running trains and landing aircraft.

This so called Full Operational Capability phase is managed and fully funded by the European Commission. The Commission and the European Space Agency have signed a delegation agreement by which ESA acts as design and procurement agent on behalf of the Commission.

This feed shows the launch preparation of Soyuz and Galileo sats 5 & 6 and includes interviews with ESA Galileo programme managers in English, French, German, Italian and Spanish.

Highlights will be posted on ESA TV ftp server within 1 hour after end of video transmission:

Server: tvdownload.esa.int

Password: ftp4esa

Please remember to use a ftp client as direct download access is not possible.

More information at: http://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Navigation/The_future_-_Galileo/What_is_Galileo

Satellite Parameters:

EUTELSAT 7B @ 7 deg East TXP B1 SLOT 1A 12MHz
DOWNLINK FR: 10961.5 MHz POL X/horizontal
SR: 9.875Ms/s FEC: 3/4 Mod: DVBS2 8PSK
SIGNAL: HD 16:9 1080i/50 MPEG4(H264) 4:2:0 DR:21.503 Mbps
AUDIO:1 mono Fr
AUDIO:2 mono Eng

For any inquiries please contact the ESA TV production team:
Dominique Detain at dominique.detain@esa.int or + 33 685 114 681

Chris Courtenay Taylor at chrisct@worldwidepictures.tv or + 44 7774 275 951.