Apr 26 2008
From The Space Library
ESA launched its Galileo In-Orbit Validation Element (GIOVE-B), the second of its Galileo global navigation system satellites, at 22:16 (UT). The 500-kilogram (1,102.31-pound) satellite lifted off aboard a Russian Soyuz-Fregat from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. GIOVE-B, like its predecessor GIOVE-A, was a test craft for a fleet which would eventually total 30 satellites. Once completed, ESA officials intended for the Galileo program to be interoperable with the American GPS and the Russian Global Navigation Satellite System (GLONASS). Because navigation systems rely on precise timing, GIOVE-B carried two redundant rubidium atomic clocks, which would serve as back up to the Passive Hydrogen Maser (PHM). The PHM was the most accurate clock that had ever been placed in orbit, with a stability of better than 1 nanosecond per day. GIOVE-B also carried a radiation-monitoring payload and a laser retroreflector for high-accuracy laser ranging. Astrium GmbH had built the satellite, with the assistance of Thales Alenia Space.
Spacewarn Bulletin, no. 654, 1 May 2008, http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/spacewarn/spx654.html (accessed 17 February 2011); ESA, “ESA’s Most Advanced Navigation Satellite Launched Tonight,” press release no. 25-2008, 27 April 2008, http://www.esa.int/esaCP/SEM9GD2QGFF_index_0.html (accessed 17 February 2011); BBC News, “Europe Launches Sat-Nav Tester,” 26 April 2008.
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