Europe successfully launched two satellites into space on Friday, a step which aims to put its beleaguered Galileo satnav programme back on track.
Advertisement
Though the Soyuz is a Russian-made rocket, this flight will be operated by European spaceflight company Arianespace, which frequently launches rockets from the Guiana Space Center.
This will be the fifth Galileo launch, bringing the number of Galileo satellites in space up to ten.
Galileo is Europe’s personal worldwide navigation satellite tv for pc system, offering a extremely correct and assured global positioning service underneath civil management.
It is created to complement the American Global Positioning System (GPS), while at the same time introducing extra precision for users.
Two spacecraft launched in August 2014 were dispatched into the wrong orbit, but ground controllers maneuvered the satellites into quasi-circular orbits, close enough to their intended positions to be incorporated into the fleet.
Esa plans just one launch in 2016, sending up a quartet of satellites on the much bigger Ariane 5 rocket. Each satellite is named after one of the children who won a painting competition organized by the European Commission in 2011.
Following the launch of four satellites Galileo In-Orbit Validation (IOV) satellites, forming the operational nucleus of the full 30-satellite constellation – FM01 and FM02 were then launched as the first two “Full Operational Capability (FOC)” birds to head into orbit.
A pair is now waiting to be shipped to French Guiana’s Kourou spaceport from Esa’s test centre in the Netherlands for another Soyuz launch in December.
The Soyuz-2 forms the basis for the Soyuz-ST rocket, which is optimized to fly from Kourou, and also incorporates a flight termination system and a modified telemetry system. Called FCube, short for Fregat Fueling Facility, the building was constructed to pump hydrazine and nitrogen tetroxide propellants into the Fregat upper stage.
The Fregat uses storable propellants (UDMH/NTO) and can be restarted up to 20 times in flight – enabling it to carry out complex mission profiles.
Advertisement
Two variants are now in service; the Soyuz-2-1a, and the Soyuz-2-1b which features an RD-0124 third stage engine which provides additional thrust. They were then attached to the Fregat upper stage and encapsulated within the launcher’s fairing. These oxygen-rich combustion gasses are recovered to feed the four main combustion chambers where kerosene – coming from the regenerative cooling circuit – is injected. The same organization also sponsors the Galileo constellation, which should include 24 primary and six backup satellites as early as 2020, the project officials said shortly before this latest mission went under way. The year 2017 would likely see two launches – one pair of spacecraft lofted by Soyuz, and another quartet on an Ariane.
