Arianespace has successfully launched four more satellites in the Galileo constellation. Liftoff was at 8:25 a.m. (local time) July 25, 2018 from the Guiana Space Center, Europe’s Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana.
Today’s launch was the 99th mission by the Ariane 5 heavy launcher. It was carried out on behalf of the European Commission as part of a contract with the European Space Agency (ESA). It also was the last in a series of three launches for Galileo using the version of Ariane 5 with a storable propellant upper stage (ES). Two additional missions to deploy four more satellites have been assigned to the A62 version of the upcoming Ariane 6 launch vehicle.
Today’s emblematic launch also was a landmark for the European space sector. Taking place at Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana, it brought together, in addition to the ESA Director General and the heads of national space agencies, Elzbieta Bienkowska, the European Commissioner for Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs (DG GROW); Frédérique Vidal, the French Minister of Higher Education, Research and Innovation; Sébastien Lecornu, the French Minister of State, attached to the Ministre d’Etat, Minister for the Ecological and Inclusive Transition; and Pedro Duque, the Spanish Minister for Science, Innovation and Universities.
Galileo is Europe’s own global navigation satellite system. The complete Galileo system will comprise a total of 24 operational satellites, along with six spares.
Since December 2016, Galileo has offered guaranteed and high-precision positioning services under civilian control. These services already are used by more than 100 million commercial devices.
Today’s flight, VA244, the third and last performed with the Ariane 5 ES launcher dedicated to Galileo missions, orbited the constellation’s satellites 23 to 26, built by OHB System. Arianespace has now deployed a total of 26 satellites for the constellation.
Two additional missions, to orbit four more satellites, already have been assigned to the A62 version of the new Ariane 6 launcher.
26 Galileo satellites have been launched by Arianespace from the Guiana Space Center: Two Soyuz launches for IOV (In Orbit Validation) satellites: Galileo IOV 1 & 2 on Flight VS01 in 2011; Galileo IOV 3 & 4 on Flight VS03 in 2012. Five other Soyuz launches: - August 22, 2014; first two Galileo FOC (Full Operational Capability) satellites, 5 and 6 - 2015 and 2016: VS11, VS12, VS13 and VS15 launches. Three Ariane 5 ES launches: VA233 on November 17, 2016, VA240 on December 12, 2017; and VA244 on July 25, 2018.
Following the success of this latest Galileo mission from the Guiana Space Center, witnessed by key players in the European space community, Arianespace will carry out three more missions for European institutions in 2018. Two emblematic missions are coming up for ESA: the August 21 Vega launch of a wind study satellite called Aeolus; and then on October 18, an Ariane 5 launch of the BepiColombo spacecraft to explore the planet Mercury (in partnership with the Japanese space agency JAXA). A Soyuz medium launcher will then loft EUMETSAT’s meteorological satellite, MetOp-C.
Arianespace’s order book includes six missions for the European Commission and ESA: - Two Ariane 62 for 4 Galileo satellites (ESA and European Commission). - Two ESA missions using Ariane 5 for BepiColombo (exploration of the planet Mercury) and the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), on behalf of NASA. - One Vega mission for the ESA satellite Aeolus (observation of the terrestrial atmosphere’s dynamic behavior). - One Soyuz launch for CHEOPS (observation of exoplanets).
After the announcement of the successful launch, Frédérique Vidal, French Minister of Higher Education, Research and Innovation said: “Ariane’s latest success demonstrates the world-class capabilities of the European space sector. I would like to congratulate all of the partners involved in the Ariane 5 and Galileo programs, both incredible achievements of European space policy: CNES, ESA, the European Commission, Arianespace, ArianeGroup and all of the European manufacturers. This latest success and the rapid development of Galileo uses shows that the European space sector can do more than hold its own, as it plays a pioneering role in the development of space technology.”
Stéphane Israël, Chief Executive Officer of Arianespace, emphasized: “With this fourth launch of the year, and the third with Ariane 5, Arianespace has proudly accomplished its 10th mission for the Galileo program. Today’s mission brings the number of satellites launched by Arianespace for this European constellation to 26 since 2011."
