[SatNews] A remote, northerly site in the worldwide network of Galileo ground stations has now been commissioned by the ESA.

The Kiruna Galileo Station in the Swedish Arctic will play a vital role communicating with the satellites of Europe’s global navigation system, which are due to start launching next year. Perched near the top of the European landmass, Kiruna will be one of two Telemetry, Tracking and Command (TT&C) Galileo stations during the In Orbit Validation (IOV) Phase – the other is in Kourou, French Guiana near the equator – to monitor the satellites and relay new commands as required from Galileo’s ground controllers at Oberpfaffenhofen in Germany and Fucino in Italy.

With Galileo soon to become a reality – the first Galileo satellites are scheduled to be launched in 2011 – bringing ground stations online is just as essential as getting the satellites ready to fly. The high-precision Galileo service requires a global network of ground stations to oversee the Galileo satellites in space – comprising a final total of 30 satellites in medium orbits, including three spares.