The next Galileo navigation satellite has touched down at Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana, to begin preparations for its launch in October, reports the European Space Agency. Cocooned within a protective, air-conditioned container, the satellite left the Thales Alenia Space Italy plant in Rome on Monday evening for nearby Fiumicino Airport.
On January 17, the E1 signal of the Galileo Flight Model 2 satellite (FM2, also known as GSAT0102) was successfully acquired and tracked by the researchers of the Navigation, Signal Analysis and Simulation (NavSAS) group (Politecnico di Torino / Istituto Superiore Mario Boella) for the first time at 11:54:10 CET (10:54:10 UTC).
On Monday, 16 January, at about 02:18 UTC, the second of the two Galileo In-Orbit Validation (IOV) satellites, FM2 (Flight Model 2) also known as GSAT0102, started transmitting navigation signals on the L1/E1 frequency using the E12 ranging code, according to tracking reports from the COoperative Network for GIOVE Observation (CONGO).
Europe’s first Galileo satellite appears to be functioning as expected, transmitting test signals received by the European Space Agency’s ground station in Redu, Belgium, across the whole of its assigned radio spectrum, ESA reports. The first two Galileo satellites were launched by Soyuz from Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana on October 21. They are currently in the midst of a rigorous campaign to check that their highly sophisticated navigation payloads are operating as planned, unaffected by the strains of launch.
GMV, one of the world’s leading companies in satellite navigation systems, announced the tracking of both data and pilot channels of Galileo first satellite signal with its own line of GNSS receiver products. The first two Galileo satellites were launched from Kouru Spaceport in French Guiana on October 21st and are now in in-orbit test campaign. The Galileo PRN 11 started transmitting the first navigation signal last Saturday.
This article gives a brief overview of the acquisition and tracking of Galileo IOV signals received from the GSAT0101 satellite on the morning of December 15. Researchers in the PLAN Group successfully recorded E1 and E5 data using a single dual-channel front-end and subsequently acquired and tracked E1 B/C, E5a and E5b signals using the PLAN Group GSNRx software GNSS receiver.
On December 12, JAVAD GNSS announced that it has tracked the Galileo in-orbit validation satellite, designated PRN-11. “An important point is that we tracked it with our units that are already in the market,” said Javad Ashjaee, CEO. “This is not a lab tests. Our customers can track it too.”
An announcement from ESA on November 4 stated “Europe’s first two Galileo IOV satellites have reached their final operating orbits, opening the way for activating and testing their navigation payloads.” But, based on NORAD/JSpOC tracking of the satellites, it seems that the final orbits were achieved only a day or so ago.
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