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Satnews Daily
July 8th, 2012

Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd. (SSTL)... Retiring, Yet Remaining Operational (Satellite)



CAD image of GIOVE-A in orbit, courtesy of SSTL.
[SatNews] Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd (SSTL) has put the GIOVE-A satellite...

...into retirement, ending a successful extended mission for the European Commission’s Galileo satellite navigation program under the supervision of the European Space Agency (ESA). The first ‘Galileo In-Orbit Validation Element’, GIOVE-A, was launched on 28th December 2005 by Soyuz rocket from Baikonur in Kazakhstan, securing vital frequency filings with the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) on the January 12, 2006, that enabled the satellite navigation program to proceed. GIOVE-A was completed by SSTL within a record 29-month schedule from contract to launch for a budget of Euro 28m. Its original mission was extended, having already outlived its 27 month design life and been declared a full mission success by ESA in 2008.

The main objectives of the GIOVE-A mission were the on-board characterization of a highly accurate prototype rubidium atomic clock, modeling the Medium Earth Orbit (MEO) radiation environment and the possible effects of radiation on future Galileo spacecraft, and of course the generation of the first Galileo navigation signals in space. Those Galileo test signals from GIOVE-A have proven to be a very useful resource for manufacturers of Galileo receivers worldwide, allowing them to easily test their designs against a realistic version of the final Galileo navigation signal. Now, more than six years after launch, SSTL’s operations team finally switched off the Galileo payload on June 30, 2012.

The spacecraft has been manoeuvred about 100 kilometers higher than its operating orbit of 23,222 kilometers to make way for the first 22 Fully Operational Capability (FOC) satellites that are now being completed by OHB Technology and SSTL. The satellite remains operational and will still be maintained from SSTL’s Mission Control Centre in Guildford, during which time SSTL will continue to collect data on the radiation environment in MEO.