Tag: Galileo
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Galileo navigation satellites buttoned up for launch on Ariane 5 rocket
The Ariane 5 rocket’s Swiss-made payload fairing was lowered Nov. 30 over four Galileo satellites mounted on top of the launcher inside the final assembly building at the Guiana Space Center in South America. Credit: ESA/CNES/Arianespace – Photo Optique Video du CSG – JM Guillon Technicians working in the jungle of French Guiana have installed…
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German-British consortium wins deal to build eight more Galileo satellites
Artist’s illustration of Galileo navigation satellites in orbit. Credit: OHB Eight more satellites for Europe’s Galileo navigation fleet will be built by Germany’s OHB System AG and Britain’s Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd. under a contract worth more than $350 million. The European Space Agency and the European Commission selected the same German-British industrial team that…
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European engineers studying string of clock failures on Galileo navigation satellites
Artist’s concept of a Galileo satellite. Credit: OHB A wave of clock failures on Europe’s Galileo navigation satellites has not knocked any of the craft offline, but officials want to better understand the problem before launching more satellites into the fleet. Five of the 18 Galileo navigation craft currently in orbit have encountered clock anomalies,…
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Slow-motion replays and dramatic images from Thursday’s Ariane 5 flight
Don’t miss riveting slow-motion video of Thursday’s blastoff of four European navigation satellite satellites captured by high-speed cameras at the Ariane 5 rocket’s jungle launch pad, plus dramatic up-close snapshots showing the launcher’s climb into the sky on 2.9 million pounds of ground-shaking thrust. The 165-foot-tall (50-meter) rocket took off at 1306 GMT (8:06 a.m.…
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Europe’s satellite navigation fleet gets big boost from Ariane 5 rocket
Europe’s Galileo navigation program turned to the workhorse Ariane 5 rocket for a heavy lift Thursday, delivering four new satellites to orbit on the launcher’s 75th successful flight in a row and pushing the growing fleet closer to global coverage. The four satellites, built in Germany with navigation payloads from Britain, arrived in an orbit…
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Live coverage: Ariane 5 lifts off on its first Galileo launch
Live coverage of the countdown and launch of an Ariane 5 rocket with four Galileo navigation satellites. Text updates will appear automatically below; there is no need to reload the page. Follow us on Twitter.
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Ariane 5 ES successfully launches Galileo quadruplets
An Ariane 5 ES rocket successfully launched four Galileo satellites from the European Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana on Thursday. The launch of the FM-12 through FM-14 involved the first use of the Ariane launch vehicle for a Galileo launch, following the previous use of the Soyuz rocket. Launch took place on schedule at 13:06 UTC. Ariane…
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Photos: Ariane 5 on its jungle launch pad with navigation payloads
Take a walk around the Ariane 5 launch pad in French Guiana after the 16-story rocket arrived at the complex for liftoff Thursday with four European Galileo navigation satellites. Read our launch preview for more information on the mission. Credit: ESA–Stephane Corvaja, 2016 Credit: ESA–Stephane Corvaja, 2016 Credit: ESA–Stephane Corvaja, 2016 Credit: ESA–Stephane Corvaja, 2016…
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Photos: Ariane 5’s trek to the launch pad for Galileo launch
An Ariane 5 rocket rolled out to its tropical launch pad in French Guiana this week leading up to Thursday’s launch of four Galileo navigation satellites for the European Commission. The 165-foot-tall (50-meter) rocket make the 1.7-mile (2.7-kilometer) trip to the ELA-3 launch zone Tuesday mounted on a mobile launch platform. Four satellites for Europe’s…
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Europe’s navigation network turns to Ariane 5 for heavy-lifting
Credit: ESA/CNES/Arianespace – Photo Optique Video du CSG – S. Martin Four satellites fastened to the top of an Ariane 5 rocket will grow Europe’s space-based Galileo navigation network Thursday morning with a launch from the South American jungle. The spacecraft will ride a specially-modified Ariane 5 launcher to an orbital perch more than 14,000…