Galileo Sets Sail

Cape Canaveral, S.F.S. FL. This evening, September 17, 2024, SpaceX used its’ Falcon 9 rocket and lofted two 700 kg global navigation satellites built by the European Space Agency (E.S.A.) for the European Union to an orbit of about 23,000 km. (14,300) miles around the Earth. Launching at 6:50 PM EDT from Complex 40, these satellites will join 25 operational Galileo constellation satellites currently in use.

This latest set of Galileo satellites were originally planned to have been launched on a Russian Soyuz ST rocket, but that was changed due to current political strains and tensions. A second option was the Ariane 6 rocket, which was looked at and considered, but aborted due to delays in bringing online this rocket that was replacing the Ariane 5 rocket. It was then, SpaceX came into play and a contract was signed and Galileo FM26 and FM32 found a way to orbit.

The Galileo satellites are part of the European Union’s high-precision positioning system. As part of a growing Galileo “Constellation”, the newest satellites will provide the coverage for the Europe Union and will not be depending on the United States’ GPS or Russia’s GLONASS systems. The beauty of Galileo’s technology is that it allows it to work with either the GPS of the USA or Russian GLONSS.

Ground Operation centers are located in Germany (satellite control) and in Italy (Navigation) and will provide over 3 billion users with precise, reliable and accurate navigational positioning.

The previously flown first stage booster will be landing on the recovery ship “Just Read the Instructions” positioned in the Atlantic. This is the twenty-second flight for this Falcon 9 booster.  Story and Images:  Graham L. Smith - We Report Space