Two further satellites have formally become part of Europe’s Galileo satnav system, broadcasting timing and navigation signals worldwide while also picking up distress calls across the planet.These are the 15th and 16th satellites to join the network, two of the four Galileos that were launched together by Ariane 5 on 17 November, and the first additions to the working constellation since the start of Galileo Initial Services on 15 December.
I'm a bit upset by the news that two Ariane 62 launchers have been ordered to launch two Galileo-satellites each. Inside the presentations from the Industry days, it is stated that launch service cost for A62 will be 85mln $; and for A64 130mln.A Vega-C could also orbit a single Galileo-satellite, this launch will cost about 35mln.My opinion is; that dual Galileo-satellite launch on A62 will be to expansive. They should launch 4x Galileo-satellites on each A62, if that's not possible, Launch 4x on A64 or one on Vega-C.2x on A62 @85mln = 42.5mln/Sat4x on A62 @85mln = 21.5mln/Sat4x on A64 @130mln=26.5mln/Sat
Quote from: Rik ISS-fan on 09/16/2017 12:09 amI'm a bit upset by the news that two Ariane 62 launchers have been ordered to launch two Galileo-satellites each. Inside the presentations from the Industry days, it is stated that launch service cost for A62 will be 85mln $; and for A64 130mln.A Vega-C could also orbit a single Galileo-satellite, this launch will cost about 35mln.My opinion is; that dual Galileo-satellite launch on A62 will be to expansive. They should launch 4x Galileo-satellites on each A62, if that's not possible, Launch 4x on A64 or one on Vega-C.2x on A62 @85mln = 42.5mln/Sat4x on A62 @85mln = 21.5mln/Sat4x on A64 @130mln=26.5mln/SatThe launch performance for A62 to the Galileo orbit is about 1700 kg according to the users guide. A quadruple Galileo launch on a A62 is therefore not possible.
The ESA Council, chaired by Jean-Yves Le Gall, met on 17–18 October in Paris, France.
The Director of Navigation, Paul Verhoef, presented the status of Galileo and plans for the Second Generation.With 18 satellites now in orbit, a full constellation will include eight more satellites to be launched by mid-2018, providing 99.8% global coverage.Hardware manufacturers like Samsung are including Galileo in their chipsets, the latest being Apple in the new generation of iPhones, unveiled last month.“A technical benchmarking of the different satellite navigation systems has demonstrated that Europe is already the ‘best in class’ in terms of precision,” commented ESA Director General Jan Woerner.Preparations are under way for the second generation of Galileo.
Galileo in smartphonesEurope’s Galileo satellite navigation system seen at work with commercially available Samsung S8+ smartphones.The sky has been full of Galileo signals since Europe’s satnav system began Initial Services at the end of last year, and a steady stream of Galileo-ready devices is finding its way to the marketplace.This has been underpinned with years of effort by ESA’s Navigation Laboratory, working with European manufacturers of mass-market satnav chips and receivers as well as ESA’s Galileo team in cooperation with the European Global Navigation Satellite System Agency.Industry responded to Initial Services by making the first Galileo-enabled smartphones available to the public. The list of available devices includes phones from Apple, BQ, Huawei, Samsung and Sony.
(so far - I don't know if the clock problems (?) on FOC FM-04/GSAT 0204 is permanent),
NOTICE ADVISORY TO GALILEO USERS (NAGU) 2017045DATE GENERATED (UTC): 2017-11-23 17:45NAGU TYPE: GENERALNAGU NUMBER: 2017045NAGU SUBJECT: GSAT0204 REMOVED FROM ACTIVE SERVICE FOR CONSTELLATION MANAGEMENT PURPOSESNAGU REFERENCED TO: N/ASTART DATE EVENT (UTC): 2017-12-08 07:30END DATE EVENT (UTC): N/ASATELLITE AFFECTED: GSAT0204EVENT DESCRIPTION: GALILEO SATELLITE GSAT0204 NOT CONTRIBUTING TO SERVICE PROVISION (ALL SIGNALS) FROM 2017-12-08 UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE
Yes GSAT0201/0202 can be used by receiver with ephemeris but not the almanac from current ICD version as there is not enough range in one or the orbit parameters. It's possible to update the Galileo ICD to increase the parameter range which would allow them in the almanac but GNSS receivers will need a firmware update to recognise them.Decent GNSS receivers would still find them without almanac but the cell phone receivers might not. The low power chips used in phones often do not run full PRN searches as they rely on the almanac downloaded over the Internet.I think even with a few satellites missing the availability will be in high 90s percentage. Most receivers also use GPS so I doubt it will be an issue for the several minutes a day there isn't 4 Galileo visible.
Galileo satellites prove Einstein's Relativity Theory to highest accuracy yet...gathered from more than a thousand days of data obtained from the pair of Galileo satellites in elongated orbits.https://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Navigation/Galileo_satellites_prove_Einstein_s_Relativity_Theory_to_highest_accuracy_yet
Latest update from Galileo om the four satellites launched in July: http://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Navigation/Four_new_Galileos_join_Europe_s_largest_satellite_constellationSo far my receivers still show them as unhealthy and https://www.gsc-europa.eu/system-status/Constellation-Information still shows them under commissioning.