SSTL helps support in service Galileo Satellites 29 & 30
Image courtesy SSTL
Carrying payloads assembled by SSTL, Galileo Satellites 29 & 30 were launched on a Falcon 9 SpaceX rocket earlier this year into a medium earth orbit close to their final on-station position 23,222 km above earth. This was reached at the end of June after a drift phase and over the subsequent months the Mission Control Team instigated the commissioning and in-orbit testing protocols necessary to ensure the satellites had survived intact from the severe launch conditions. Satellite manufacturer OHB then assessed the platform and antenna’s and SSTL analysed the clocks.
Towards the end of August ESA, OHB and SSTL concluded the satellites were fit and the ultimate green light was given by the EU SAB (Security Accreditation Board) to commence service.
The completion of the second of Galileo’s three orbital planes and the addition of every satellite to the system further improves the precision, availability and robustness of the Galileo signal. The next two satellites are planned for launch in the coming weeks, also from Kennedy Space Centre in Florida and the entire system is only a launch away from final completion of all three orbital planes.
Andrew Cawthorne – Managing Director, SSTL said: “It is always satisfying for us at SSTL when additional Galileo payloads manufactured here in Guildford are brought into service. Especially so for our core team who support the navigation payloads through commissioning and in-orbit operations. Galileo – still SSTL’s largest ever single contract – remains an important part of both our legacy and current operations.”
Galileo is currently the world’s most precise satellite navigation system, serving over four billion smartphone users around the globe since entering Open Service in 2017.
Headquartered in Guildford, Surrey Satellite Technology Limited (SSTL) delivers customisable complete mission solutions for Earth observation, science, communications, navigation, in-orbit debris removal and servicing and exploration beyond Earth infrastructure. Since 1981, SSTL has built and launched 74 satellites for 20 international customers, as well as providing training and development programmes, consultancy services and mission studies for ESA, NASA, international governments and commercial customers. SSTL is well known for innovative missions such as the CARBONITE satellites, the NovaSAR S-band radar imaging satellite and the RemoveDEBRIS space debris removal technology demonstrator. SSTL's latest launch (number 74) was in August this year of TYCHE - an ISR Earth Observation satellite for UK Space Command.
