Bremen, 3. May 2018. Today at noon, two of the four Galileo satellites that are to be transported into space in July with an Ariane 5 rocket left the Bremen site of OHB System AG, a subsidiary of the OHB SE space and technology group. Tara and Samuel are scheduled to arrive at Cayenne Airport tomorrow and be transported to the launch site. Each satellite is named after one of the children who won the European Commission's 2011 painting competition. OHB has thus sent the 19th and 20th Galileo satellites on their journey - 18 identical satellites are already in space. "We're sending another pair of satellites to the space launch site in June. There we will complete the satellite quartet and submit it to a series of functional tests before they are integrated into the rocket. We are right on schedule and I am proud of the performance of our OHB team, which once again worked together perfectly," says Dr. Manuel Czech, Galileo FOC Project Manager at OHB.   

OHB is the main industrial contractor for the FOC satellites

The European Space Agency ESA has awarded OHB System AG with the production of the complete set of 34 Galileo FOC satellites (Full Operational Capability). ESA in this case acts on behalf of the European Commission. The entire constellation will comprise 24 operational satellites plus spares in three orbital planes. The constellation is optimized allowing a global position determination and navigation. In addition, the satellites support a global Search and Rescue service (COSPAS-SARSAT).

“In parallel, experts at OHB System AG are working on designs for the next generation of navigation satellites and further services it shall provide”, says Dr. Wolfgang Paetsch, member of the management board of OHB System AG.

*The Full Operational Capability phase of the Galileo programme is managed and fully funded by the European Union. The Commission and ESA have signed a delegation agreement by which ESA acts as design and procurement agent on behalf of the Commission. The views expressed here can in no way be taken to reflect the official opinion of the European Union and/or ESA. “Galileo” is a trademark subject to OHIM application number 002742237 by EU and ESA.