Here’s when SpaceX will launch the EU’s Galileo satellites
Europe has – temporarily – lost access to space, recognizes European Commissioner Breton on the sidelines of the ESA mid-term ministerial summit underway in Seville. And the EU is finalizing the roadmap to launch four Galileo satellites with the American SpaceX
US-based SpaceX will launch the European Galileo navigation satellites next year.
This is the confirmation that comes today from the European Commissioner for the Internal Market Thierry Breton in Seville, Spain, following the mid-term ministerial summit of the European Space Agency (ESA) underway in Seville.
At the end of October theWall Street Journal revealed that Elon Musk's aerospace company had signed an agreement with ESA to bring up to four of the main European satellites into orbit for navigation and secure communications with the Falcon 9 rockets of the US base SpaceX.
The deal includes two launches scheduled for April and July next year, carrying two satellites each, Breton told reporters, reported by Reuters .
ESA had planned to launch the Galileo satellites using the Ariane 6 rocket, but the latter has suffered frequent delays and is not expected to have its maiden launch until 2024. Furthermore, due to the war in Ukraine, Europe has stopped launches via the Russian Soyuz rocket from Kourou in Guyana from February 2022.
Without Ariane 6, and with the withdrawal of Ariane 5, the Falcon 9 of the US SpaceX is the only viable alternative for ESA to transport satellites into orbit including the launch of 4 Galileo satellites.
Already last year, ESA turned to SpaceX to launch its Euclid space telescope to detect evidence of dark matter in the universe .
Therefore the plan remains subject to authorizations relating to the protection of the Galileo satellites. These enable encrypted communications between European governments and operate the EU's satellite navigation system.
All the details.
THE IMPORTANCE OF THE GALILEO SYSTEM
The Galileo system is fundamental for Europe, as it makes it independent from the global positioning system (GPS) of the United States and from the satellite navigation systems of Russia and China. The service has been active since 2016, but additional satellites are needed to strengthen the existing network.
EUROPE WITHOUT ACCESS TO SPACE
At the moment the countries of the Old Continent need SpaceX to access space. For the first time in decades, the Old Continent does not have a launcher to bring its satellites into orbit. In addition to the withdrawal of Ariane 5, Ariane 6 has suffered delays and the debut has been postponed to next year while Vega remained stuck on the launch pad following the failure of the first commercial flight of Vega C on December 20th.
“Europe has – temporarily – lost access to space. The agreement within ESA is a first step forward but we need to go further: more competition, less "geographical return", aggregation of institutional launches and European preference" we read in a message published on margin of the Seville summit.
Europe a —momentanément — lost son access to the space.
The agreement with the ESA is the first advance ever to us all the more:
Plus de concurrence, moins de "retour géographique"
: EU, ESA & États membres pic.twitter.com/D9vXRVwN6B
— Thierry Breton (@ThierryBreton) November 7, 2023
However, at the moment there is no European preference to launch Galileo satellites next year.
Although just yesterday Italy, France and Germany reached an agreement to support the future launches of the European Ariane 6 and Vega C launchers . This was announced in a press release from the Made in Italy Ministry of Business led by Adolfo Urso (Fratelli d'Italia). In particular, the "countries have reached a decisive agreement to immediately unblock the launches of Ariane 6 and Vega-C.
A FIRST TIME
Ultimately, SpaceX would launch Galileo satellites from US territory, under the terms of the agreement. It would be the first time that Galileo equipment has been brought into orbit outside of European territory, except for the first test versions launched from Kazakhstan, highlights Engadget . All other Galileo satellites were launched from the Guiana Space Center in Kourou, French Guiana, initially using Soyuz rockets and later the Ariane 5 system.
This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/innovazione/ecco-quando-spacex-lancera-i-satelliti-galileo-dellue/ on Tue, 07 Nov 2023 15:37:31 +0000.