European Space Agency holds breath ahead of Galileo launch

By Sabine Dobel Oct 19, 2011, 14:14 GMT

Kourou, French Guiana - European space experts are holding their breath as the first two operational Galileo navigational satellites are about to be launched Thursday from Europe's space port in Kourou, French Guiana.

The ambitious Galileo project is aimed at providing Europe with an independent global satellite navigation system under civilian control, breaking the current hegemony in the area held by GPS (Global Positioning System), which is run by the US government.

The two satellites will be launched into space at 1034 GMT - years behind schedule - with the help of a Soyuz rocket. It will the first time a Russian rocket is taking off from Kourou.

Galileo is meant to be more accurate than GPS. By offering dual frequencies as standard, it will deliver real-time positioning accuracy down to the metre range, compared to about 10 metres with GPS, its proponents say.

Despite being in direct competition with GPS, Galileo has been designed to be inter-operable with both GPS and Russia's Glonass, the other global satellite navigation system.

The prestige project run by the European Union and the European Space Agency (ESA) has been constructed for a multitude of uses on land, water or in the air.

Investigators can use information from Galileo in combatting crime, builders when measuring buildings and farmers when spreading silage, among other possibilities.

Galileo will also improve flight safety and punctuality, as the more precise positioning of aircraft will lead to fewer delays, diversions and cancellations.

When fully operational, Galileo will consist of 30 satellites, six more than GPS. The system will offer three services from 2014, when 18 satellites are due to orbiting the Earth at an altitude of more than 23,000 kilometres.

The first services will include a free access system for the general public, a search and rescue service, and an encrypted service for high-level security assignments. A further two services are due to come into operation by 2020, when all 30 satellites are in space.

However, exploding costs and project overruns have dampened expectations about Galileo, even though insiders have long said that the initial cost projections were too low.

The project was originally budgeted at 3.4 billion euros (4.7 billion dollars). This has since risen to 4.8 billion, not including operating costs, according to figures quoted by the European Commission.

Preparations are ongoing in Kourou ahead of Thursday's launch. After a number of failures with its Soyuz rockets, Russia successfully launched a satellite for its Glonass system at the start of October.

On August 24, a Soyuz rocket transporting cargo to the International Space Station crashed while last December, three Glonass satellites ended up ditching in the Pacific shortly after launch. Any repeat failure at the European space port would be a major setback for the Galileo project.

The system was originally meant to go into operation in 2008. In the meantime, the Glonass system has got up and running and is now offering global data, while China's planned Compass system already has half a dozen satellites in space and intends beginning operations in Asia in the near future.

Testing is continuing on Galileo, with both satellites already emitting test signals. A parallel test area has been selected at the German Alpine resort of Berchtesgaden, with eight pseudo-satellites positioned on top of eight mountain tops.

The Galileo test range (GATE) can simulate 'virtual' Galileo satellites, allowing a realistic moving satellite constellation to be simulated.

'It's like a large space laboratory,' explained Elmar Wittman, head of GATE's customer operations section.

Scientists and local rescue personnel have successfully tested a Galileo-supported positioning system in Berchtesgaden to help in locating victims of avalanches, who were detected to within a few centimetres.

The system was also tested to see how it could help helicopter pilots better navigate in poor visibility.

'The precise navigation offered by Galileo can be used, for instance, in natural disasters to save lives, because rescue services can work and coordinate things more accurately and quickly,' Johann-Dietrich Woerner, chairman of the German Aerospace Center (DLR), said earlier this year when the test region was launched.