Brussels, 26/08/2014 (Agence Europe) - The independent board of inquiry into the deployment of the two Galileo satellites into incorrect orbits is gradually taking shape.
From 28 August, its members will to get down to work to establish what happened in the night of 22-23 August to the fifth and sixth Galileo satellites, whose location was diametrically opposed to what was planned, three hours after their launch on board a Russian Soyuz rocket.
The board of inquiry will bring together Arianespace, the European Space Agency (ESA) and European Commission. On Tuesday 26 August, Arianespace announced that the board would be chaired by Peter Dubock, former ESA Inspector General. He will be assisted by nine other experts from the European Commission and the French, German, and Italian space agencies, CNES, DLR and ASI respectively. A Russian representative has also been appointed by the Russian space agency, the fault seeming to have stemmed from the upper section of the Russian launcher, Soyuz.
The initial conclusions of the inquiry have been promised for 8 September. The investigation will seek to establish the circumstances of the anomaly, causes and aggravating factors. It will also formulate recommendations to prevent such a costly incident reoccurring (see EUROPE 11139). Stéphane Israël, Chief Executive Officer at Arianespace, stated that “the board will now be able to carry out its work completely independently and in accordance with the tight deadline”. He said that he hoped that its “recommendations will allow the Soyuz launcher to get back flying and providing the necessary reliability” (our translation). (MD)