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ESA boss to stay on? 04/06/2010
Jean-Jacques Dordain, the boss of the European Space Agency (ESA), could be heading for another period in office.
Ukraine & Russia to sign GLONASS development deal 14/05/2010
Both governments are to sign an agreement on the use and development of the satnav system.
Galileo IOV model completes preliminary testing 11/05/2010
ESA has announced that the Engineering Model for the Galileo In-Orbit Verification satellites has completed preliminary tests.
A GPS for £9 02/05/2010
Illustrating how the cost of GPS receivers has dropped, a Bluetooth GPS unit can now be bought in UK for £8.99.
Ten years of undegraded GPS 01/05/2010
10 years ago today - on 1 May 2000 - the US removed 'Selective Availability' (SA) from GPS transmissions.
First Galileo flight payload delivered 27/04/2010
Billed as a 'major milestone', the payload for the first operational Galileo satellite is being delivered.
The EC has awarded SES a second long-term contract to host an EGNOS overlay payload aboard an Astra spacecraft under construction. The 2 deals have a combined value of at least €270 (£241 or $392) million.In the 12 January agreement, SES will place an L-band (GPS L1) navigation payload on its Astra 5B direct-broadcast television satellite, under construction by Astrium and scheduled for launch in mid-2013.The Astra 5B geostationary satellite will be operated at 31.5° E longitude.This follows a 2009 contract for an identical navigation payload to be placed on SES’s Sirius 5 satellite, under construction by Space Systems/Loral and scheduled for launch in late 2011. Sirius 5 will operate at 5° E.The 2 payloads will be the core spaceborne part of the European Geostationary Navigation Overlay Service (EGNOS), which achieved initial operational capability in 2009 (see news). The EGNOS satellites provide ranging signals - like any other GPS satellite - as well as giving differential corrections and integrity info on all GPS satellites in view.EGNOS is currently provided by a mobile comms satellite operated by Inmarsat and by Europe’s Artemis data-relay satellite. Both are scheduled to be retired in the next 3 years.Annual service payments will be about €9 million euros per year per satellite - giving a total of €270 million over 15 years.
The EC has awarded SES a second long-term contract to host an EGNOS overlay payload aboard an Astra spacecraft under construction.
The 2 deals have a combined value of at least €270 (£241 or $392) million.In the 12 January agreement, SES will place an L-band (GPS L1) navigation payload on its Astra 5B direct-broadcast television satellite, under construction by Astrium and scheduled for launch in mid-2013.The Astra 5B geostationary satellite will be operated at 31.5° E longitude.This follows a 2009 contract for an identical navigation payload to be placed on SES’s Sirius 5 satellite, under construction by Space Systems/Loral and scheduled for launch in late 2011. Sirius 5 will operate at 5° E.The 2 payloads will be the core spaceborne part of the European Geostationary Navigation Overlay Service (EGNOS), which achieved initial operational capability in 2009 (see news). The EGNOS satellites provide ranging signals - like any other GPS satellite - as well as giving differential corrections and integrity info on all GPS satellites in view.EGNOS is currently provided by a mobile comms satellite operated by Inmarsat and by Europe’s Artemis data-relay satellite. Both are scheduled to be retired in the next 3 years.Annual service payments will be about €9 million euros per year per satellite - giving a total of €270 million over 15 years.