After launch and platform commissioning, GIOVE A started signal transmission on 12 January and the quality of these signals is now being checked. This checking process is employing several facilities, including the Navigation Laboratory at ESA’s European Space Research and Technology Centre (ESTEC), in the Netherlands, the ESA ground station at Redu, in Belgium, and the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory (RAL) Chilbolton Observatory in the United Kingdom.

Chilbolton’s 25 metre antenna makes it possible to acquire the signals from GIOVE A and verify they conform to the Galileo system’s design specifi cation. Each time the satellite is visible from Chilbolton, the large antenna is activated and tracks the satellite. GIOVE A orbits at an altitude of 23 260 kilometres, making a complete journey around the Earth in 14 hours and 22 minutes.

The GIOVE A mission also represents an opportunity for the testing of a key element of the future Galileo system, the user receivers. The first Galileo experimental receivers, manufactured by Septentrio of Belgium, were installed at the Redu and Chilbolton In Orbit Test Stations and at the Guildford, United Kingdom, premises of Surrey Satellite Technology Limited (SSTL), the manufacturer of the satellite and now in charge of its control in orbit.

Alcatel Alenia Space announced that it will demonstrate the first emergency service based on EGNOS, a precursor of Galileo. The integrated end-toend Location-Based Solution (LBS), designed under the coordination of Alcatel Alenia Space, enables the Civil Security forces and Fire Brigades to locate emergency calls from mobile phones and effiiently guide the intervention team. Using EGNOS-enhanced accurate positioning integrated with the telecom network and the emergency control centre application, the service improves the speed and effi ciency of the rescue, increases the team safety and optimizes the resources needed for overall incident management.