Segundo satélite Galileu quase a ser lançado...
Enviado: quinta mar 06, 2008 15:08
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7278616.stm
Giove-B, the second demonstrator spacecraft for Europe's proposed satellite navigation system, is finally to be sent for launch.
The craft, currently held at a test centre in Holland, will be despatched to the Baikonur spaceport next week for a Soyuz flight in late April.
Giove-B will trial key technologies for the Galileo project, including the most advanced atomic clock to go into orbit.
[...]
At one stage, Giove-B was being built in parallel with Giove-A, the first test platform launched in December 2005.
But the former's preparation was then hit by lengthy delays, including a major setback when a component blew on the spacecraft whilst it was sitting in a thermal vacuum chamber designed to assess the satellite's ability to withstand the extreme conditions of space.
[...]
After the repairs and modifications, Giove-B would have been ready for flight in December 2007, but has since had to wait for a rocket to become available to take it into space.
[...]
The sat-nav venture came close to being cancelled last year when the private consortium selected to build and operate the system collapsed.
European Union finance ministers had to step in with a 3.4bn-euro public funding package to keep Galileo alive.
Galileo cannot truly proceed until the money is released, and that requires the formal agreement of the EU's legislative arms.
[...]
The launch on a Soyuz-Fregat vehicle is timed for 2316 on Saturday, 26 April. Giove-B will be placed in a medium-Earth orbit 23,222km above the planet's surface.
It should begin its first transmissions in May.
Giove-A, produced by the UK firm Surrey Satellite Technology Limited, has worked flawlessly in orbit for two years.
Giove-B, the second demonstrator spacecraft for Europe's proposed satellite navigation system, is finally to be sent for launch.
The craft, currently held at a test centre in Holland, will be despatched to the Baikonur spaceport next week for a Soyuz flight in late April.
Giove-B will trial key technologies for the Galileo project, including the most advanced atomic clock to go into orbit.
[...]
At one stage, Giove-B was being built in parallel with Giove-A, the first test platform launched in December 2005.
But the former's preparation was then hit by lengthy delays, including a major setback when a component blew on the spacecraft whilst it was sitting in a thermal vacuum chamber designed to assess the satellite's ability to withstand the extreme conditions of space.
[...]
After the repairs and modifications, Giove-B would have been ready for flight in December 2007, but has since had to wait for a rocket to become available to take it into space.
[...]
The sat-nav venture came close to being cancelled last year when the private consortium selected to build and operate the system collapsed.
European Union finance ministers had to step in with a 3.4bn-euro public funding package to keep Galileo alive.
Galileo cannot truly proceed until the money is released, and that requires the formal agreement of the EU's legislative arms.
[...]
The launch on a Soyuz-Fregat vehicle is timed for 2316 on Saturday, 26 April. Giove-B will be placed in a medium-Earth orbit 23,222km above the planet's surface.
It should begin its first transmissions in May.
Giove-A, produced by the UK firm Surrey Satellite Technology Limited, has worked flawlessly in orbit for two years.