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The latest flight of an Ariane 5 rocket in Europe has added four new satellites to the Galileo navigation constellation in Europe, which has allowed to the multibillion euro network to stay on track for the start of the global full service in 2020.
Launch with an older, out-of-production phase powered by storable toxic hydrazine fuel, l 39; Ariane 5, 47 meters high (47 meters) The infamous ES rocket is the main engine of Vulcain 2 at 11:25: 01 GMT (7:25 am: 01h EDT, 8:25 am: 01 am) from the Guiana Space Center on the north coast -is South America.
Seven seconds Later, two solid machine-gun rockets fired in unison to send the Ariane 5 launcher into a clear morning sky over the French Guiana spaceport. The steerable nozzles of the boosters guided the rocket to the northeast, and the burning engines burned their solid propellant and dropped about 2 minutes 19 seconds after take-off.
The super cold liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen at a rate of 705 pounds (320 kilograms) per second, the Vulcain 2 engine fired nine minutes before the main stage falls back into the earth's atmosphere.
The Aestus engine from the top floor of Ariane 5 shoots a few moments later, burning nearly 11 minutes. an elliptical transfer orbit that extends over more than 14,000 miles (nearly 23,000 kilometers) above the Earth. After a three hour climb, the Aestus engine reignited for more than six minutes, reshaping its orbit to reach a circular path around the planet.
Rocket telemetry to launch controllers in French Guiana reported the four 1,576 pounds (715 kilograms) The Galileo satellites separated from their carrier module in two pairs, spaced 20 minutes apart, as expected.
A separate control team in Toulouse, France, took over the satellites shortly after the separation of the Ariane 5 rocket. The engineers confirmed that the four spacecraft were in good health after deploying their solar panels , following a planned activation sequence after launch
Authorities said the launch was a success, giving the European navigation fleet Galileo 26 satellites, of which 22 last four years. The 26 Galileo satellites launched to date have embarked seven Soyuz boosters and three Ariane 5 rockets in orbit, completing the initial deployment of the program in space.
"Today, as you have seen, all the parameters were green and the sky perfectly blue." Said Stephane Israel, CEO of Arianespace, during a speech post-launch at the Kourou Spaceport, French Guiana. "This was an exceptional success for Europe, with Ariane 5 launching 12 Galileo satellites in less than three years."
Wednesday's mission was the last flight of the Ariane 5 ES version of the European launcher All future Ariane 5 launches will use the Ariane 5 ECA configuration, the most commonly used variant of the European rocket.
The difference between the two variants is the Ariane 5 ECA flies with a hydrogen powered upper stage HM7B engine, can be lit only once in space.Missions such as Galileo satellite deployments require more engine shots on the upper floor, while most Commercial satellite launches need only one.
Ariane Group, master builder of the Ariane rocket family and parent company of Arianespace. The Ariane 6 rocket of new generation in Europe. Paul Verhoef, director of navigation at the European Space Agency, said the Galileo network remains on track for full operational capability in 2020, a milestone further enhanced with Wednesday's successful launch. [19659003] ESA is a technical and procurement officer of the Galileo program, managed by the European Commission, the executive arm of the European Union.
The program is expected to cost the EU Member States 10 billion euros (11.7 billion dollars) The European Commission
Elżbieta Bieńkowska, European Commissioner for the Market domestic, to industry and entrepreneurship, has described the launch of Wednesday as "milestone in the history of Galilee". 19659003] "This launch brings the constellation to 26 satellites and brings Galileo closer to operational capability."
Once completed, the Galileo constellation will consist of approximately 30 satellites, including 24 operational satellites and approximately six spares spanning three orbital planes 23 422 kilometers above the Earth.
are the latest in a second batch of navigation platforms commissioned from OHB of Germany, which is building the spacecraft, and British SSTL, provider of navigation payloads.
There will be a hiatus in Galileo launches until the end of 2020, when the first pair of 12 additional Galileo satellites ordered from the OHB / SSTL team by ESA and the European Commission will be ready for takeoff. The next round of Galileo satellites is expected to be launched on the Ariane 6 rocket in Europe, piloting both the lighter configuration of the next-generation launcher with two powerful rocket boosters.
"We are satisfied with what we have" The two satellites were launched on Wednesday – with the eventual incorporation of two Galileo satellites launched in an incorrect orbit in 2014 and the launch of the next series in 2020 ", said Verhoef, the activation of Galileo ground systems – should allow the European Commission to declare the network operational in 2020.
The European Commission launched the first Galileo services in December 2016, allowing users equipped with Galileo chipsets to integrate Galileo navigation signals next to those provided by the US Army GPS satellites and the Glonbad fleet of the Russian Army
. 39, at least 24 satellites, there are still gaps in the coverage of Galileo.Besides the two Galileo satellites flying in the wrong orbit, another spacecraft suffered an antenna failure and is unable to to provide services.
Nevertheless, officials said that these gaps will be closed in the coming years and that the satellites are working in orbit. "Not only is Galileo's performance promising to be very good, but it's very good," said Rodrigo da Costa, director of Galileo's service program at the European Agency for Satellite Navigation Systems, or GSA
"Seven years later, we have 26 satellites in orbit," said Jean-Yves Le Gall, president of CNES, the French space agency. "We have a system that is becoming the best in the world.We are talking about 400 million users.The numbers are constantly increasing."
"The accuracy is huge," said Le Gall in his remarks after the launch Wednesday. "With our system, we know which side of the street we are on."
Most new smartphones integrate Galileo data with GPS signals in their navigation applications, and more cars are equipped with GPS systems. Galileo compatible navigation every year.The officials said.The combination of GPS and Galileo signals to the users of the provider of the position and time corrections as accurate as possible with a single network.
The complete step of Galileo planned for 2020 will come when the constellation will be complete, fully operational, with all the ground segment, "said Verhoef.
" This is often forgotten ", ad Verhoef told reporters Tuesday. "The goal is always that we launch satellites, but I can tell you that a lot of deployment, actually, is happening on the ground.All of this must be ready, included and work together as a system before you can declare any type of operational capability. "
The four satellites launched on Wednesday are nicknamed Anna, Ellen, Samuel and Tara, the names of the children who won a painting competition from the European Commission.
Verhoef said the engineers solved a problem that caused several atomic clocks to fail on some of the older Galileo navigation satellites. No clock failure has affected the navigation capability of a satellite, but some spacecraft have lost the redundancy of their navigation payloads.
"The floor clocks were repaired and those on order were rectified. Verhoef said, by refusing to provide details on the corrective measures during a conference call before launching with reporters.
"As was often the case with these things, a very small mistake, but this led to a rather important result, and you just have to dig very deep and go see the specialists to find which has happened, "said Verhoef. "What resulted was a short internal circuit in the clocks, and of course, after a short circuit, it's over, and they're dead."
The next Arianespace mission is scheduled for takeoff on August 21st. The solid-fuel Vega launcher will send ESA's Aeolus Earth Science satellite into orbit to measure global wind profiles. This will be followed by another Ariane 5 mission – the 100th launch of Ariane 5 – on September 5 with two commercial communications satellites
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