--- Původní zpráva --- Datum: 12/28/2005 Od: "peter blair" Předmět: [EME-net] More info on Galileo test satellite Following the sucessful launch and initial activation of the Galileo test satellite, the following information has been released. I believe this is of interest to the EME community. 73 Peter G3LTF "The 660 kg GIOVE-A satellite, built by SSTL for ESA in just 30 months and 28M Euros, has three mission objectives. First, it will secure use of the frequencies allocated by the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) for the Galileo system. Second, it will demonstrate critical technologies for the navigation payload of future operational Galileo satellites. Third, it will characterise the radiation environment of the orbits planned for the Galileo constellation. GIOVE-A carries two small European rubidium atomic clocks, each with a stability of 10 nanoseconds per day, and two signal generation units, one able to generate a simple Galileo signal and the other a more representative Galileo signal. These two signals will be broadcast through an L-band phased-array antenna designed to cover all of the visible Earth under the satellite. Two instruments will monitor the types of radiation to which the satellite is exposed during its two year mission. Once the payload is activated, the Galileo signals broadcast by GIOVE-A will be carefully analysed by ground stations to make sure they satisfy the criteria of the ITU filings."