Brussels, 18/10/2011 (Agence Europe) - The first two Galileo satellites, Thijs and Natalia, will be launched and placed in orbit on Thursday 20 October, from 12.34pm. These first operational satellites will also mark the kick-off for Galileo, the future European satellite radio-navigation system and, as European Commissioner Antonio Tajani responsible for industry and entrepreneurship said on Tuesday 18 October, it will also mark the third industrial revolution for reactivating European competitiveness. He went on to say that aerospace policy is one of the most competitive sectors, providing youth with hope, as the creation of Galileo has already made it possible to give fresh impetus to the satellite navigation sector in Europe with, as he pointed out, many European producers becoming highly competitive in this field. However, and above all, Galileo aims to catch up the Americans, who are way ahead in the space sector, ensuring Europe's independence from the American GPS system while remaining interoperable and far more precise.
Uncertainties. This first launch into orbit will be followed by a series of other launches until 2020 at the latest in order to build a constellation of 30 satellites in total. Satellites will be launched into orbit from the Kourou launch site in French Guyana, orbiting at 23,600 km above the Earth. Paul Weissenberg, Director General for Enterprise and Industry, hoped all would go as planned as, he pointed out, although the procedure is rehearsed up to 3 minutes before launch, a storm or ill-fated winds could have an impact on the smooth unfolding of the launch - all the more as the launch rocket is a Souyouz of Russian manufacture, other models of which have already experienced launching problems in Russia. The model used for launching the Galileo satellites has not yet incurred any damage but this will be the first time it is used in Kourou - adding just one more unknown weighing on a successful launch into orbit. Preference has been given to Russian rockets as the European launcher, Ariane, carries at least four satellites but only two are currently ready. Nonetheless, some of the next launches will use Ariane, in order to maintain European independence from Russia.
(Auto)-financing? As of next year, other launches will take place nearly every three months in order to complete the constellation in coming years. Any further delay is out of the question, as are the extra costs of the past. Tajani said that every day gained is money saved. After the launch, he will prepare the next call for tenders for ordering new satellites, he explained, within the current financial perspectives (Ed: and not according to the planned budget for 2014-2020). He said, by keeping to the time frame and by cutting costs incurred by European companies, it should be possible to save €500 million. As the budget required by the Galileo is a major one, the Commission earmarks one billion euro annually for Galileo as of 2014 for implementing the project until 2020, and probably in the following decades also to ensure maintenance of the system. The Galileo project will not generate sufficient proceeds to be able to finance itself but will nonetheless represent added value of €70 million from the services that it provides. These could be pay services but, for most services, Galileo will be accessible to all free of charge. It will above all be of upstream interest for employment, for example in SMEs, as it is not only the large industries that are taking part in this challenge, Tajani was pleased to point out.
Re-transmission. In order to celebrate this major step in the implementation of the Galileo project, the launch of the first two satellites will be broadcast live from Kourou by the “Europe by Satellite” information service and on a giant screen at Esplanade Solidarnosc, before the European Parliament. The president of the European Commission, José Manuel Barroso, and Herbert Reul (ALDE, Germany), who heads the parliamentary committee on industry, research and energy, will speak on this occasion, on 20 October from 11.00am to 2.00pm. The launch will also be accompanied by comments from specialists in this field from the European Commission and the European Space Agency. (MD/transl.jl)