Developed by ESA and funded by the European Union, Galileo will ensure Europe’s autonomy in global satellite-based navigation under civilian control.

In 2010, SPACEBEL was selected by OHB-System AG (Germany), industrial prime contractor for the 22 FOC (full operational capability) satellites of the Galileo constellation, in order to develop the PUS (Packet Utilization Standard) Library as well as the Packet Store. More specifically, our contribution is related to the on board data handling software aimed at controlling and managing the processes running aboard the Galileo satellites. The recent acceptance review of the delivered SPACEBEL software has been fully successful.

The overall Galileo constellation will be composed of 30 satellites (including 3 active spares) operating in medium-Earth orbit in combination with a worldwide ground infrastructure.
Up ‘till now, a series of “precursor” Galileo satellites were sent into Space to assess the Galileo system through tests during the experimental and In-Orbit validation phases.
On August 21st 2014, a first duo of Galileo FOC satellites called Doresa and Milena is to be launched on a Soyuz rocket from the spaceport in Kourou (French Guiana). The Galileo satellites are named after the children – one per EU Member State – who won a drawing competition organized by the European Commission in 2011.

The publicly available Galileo system will deliver extremely accurate real-time positioning. It will be free of charge and is designed to be interoperable with other global navigation satellite systems, notably with the US GPS and Russian Glonass. Early services with reduced performance or for demonstration purposes will be available from 2014 onwards.

SPACEBEL is proud to be part of this ambitious programme meant to provide European citizens with their own satellite navigation system.