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The engineering model of the first Galileo satellites has completed platform integration tests at the Thales Alenia Space facility in Rome. The platform is now undergoing functional testing. Delivery of the engineering model payload from Astrium UK is expected in December. These tests are an important step towards building and launching the first four Galileo satellites. Integration testing verifies the interfaces between units or subsystems and the larger integrated system. Functional testing demonstrates that the integrated elements meet their design specifications. The proto-flight and three flight model satellites will also integrated and tested at Thales Alenia Space in Rome. They will be carried into orbit in pairs by Soyuz ST-B / Fregat MT launchers from Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana. The first launch is scheduled for late 2010 and the second for early in 2011.
The definition phase and the development and In-Orbit Validation phase of the Galileo programme were carried out by the European Space Agency (ESA) and co-funded by ESA and the EU. Galileo is a joint project developed by the European Commission and European Space Agency. Once completed, the system will include up to 32 satellites and will work alongside GPS and GLONASS. Galileo promises to provide real-time positioning with pinpoint accuracy to within a single meter of an object's exact location. It is designed for use with mission critical circumstances and situations where lives are at stake, and it is guaranteed for all but the most extreme situations. It is also designed to work in urban areas, under trees, inside buildings and other locations GPS cannot penetrate; it will provide an "integrity" component to alert users to possible major errors that could compromise performance.
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