Summary
The European Space Agency has extended contracts with Thales Alenia Space and Airbus Defence and Space for four additional Galileo Second Generation satellites. The planned G2 fleet now totals 16 satellites, with these four scheduled for delivery in 2031.
The European Space Agency (ESA) has extended contracts with Thales Alenia Space and Airbus Defence and Space to build four additional Galileo Second Generation (G2) satellites. The new procurement brings the planned G2 fleet to 16. ESA says the four satellites are scheduled for delivery in 2031 and launch soon after; they will be identical to G2 satellites already under development.
The contracts were signed on 23 October in Rome with Thales Alenia Space and on 26 October in Ottobrunn, Germany, with Airbus. Each company had been contracted by ESA in 2021 to build six G2 satellites.
What the additional satellites will add
G2 satellites are being developed with fully digital navigation payloads, an improved navigation antenna, inter-satellite link capability and an advanced atomic-clock configuration. Satellite navigation calculates a receiver’s position using the timing of signals from multiple satellites, making precise time references central to the system. The inter-satellite links will allow satellites to communicate with one another.
ESA says the new design is intended to provide more robust and reliable positioning, navigation and timing. The agency has not given a numerical performance target for these improvements in its announcement. It says the second generation is also intended to increase Galileo’s resilience and support new services and applications, but does not specify those services here.
ESA extended the contracts on behalf of the EU Agency for the Space Programme (EUSPA), Galileo’s service provider, for the benefit of the system’s owner, the European Union. ESA is responsible for the system’s design, development and qualification, while EUSPA manages launches, service introduction and operations.
From development to deployment
The first 12 G2 satellites are in development, with qualification activities approaching completion. ESA says system integration and compatibility testing are underway, with integration and flight testing of the first satellites planned for 2027 and the first G2 launch planned for 2028. The four newly contracted satellites are scheduled to follow in 2031.
The G2 satellites will join Galileo’s 38 First Generation satellites, all but four of which have already been launched. ESA says the two generations will integrate with one another, supporting continuity of the navigation system as newer satellites enter service. The immediate significance of the contracts is therefore to expand the future satellite supply and extend the transition to a more resilient generation, rather than to change Galileo services now.