周六,攜帶了衛星的Soyuz運載工具已經在卡扎克斯坦的貝克努爾人造衛星發射基地做好了最后發射準備,將把Giove-B送入2萬3千公里上的預留軌道上。這顆由Astrium制造和開發的衛星將把伽利略衛星的關鍵技術首次送入太空,并且這顆衛星是整個系統的開路先鋒。

另一方面,在融資前線,歐盟已經在4月23日批準了34億歐元的發行公眾優先股的計劃。這顆衛星的研發超過了預算和預期完成時間,此次批準消除了歐盟政府去年11月決定采用納稅人的錢拯救該項目的最后障礙。

爭議的終結意味著必須從去年歐盟預算中沒有使用的農場補貼里抽取資金并重新投向研究和工業開支。

在星期日的發射以前,Giove-B在位于荷蘭Noordwijk的歐洲航天局的歐洲航天研究和技術中心(ESTEC)進行了最后測試。Astrium是第二顆實驗衛星的主要合同商,整個衛星系統由30個衛星星座提供GPS服務。

由Surrey Satellite Technology公司(Guildford, England)生產的第一顆測試平臺Giove-A已經在軌正常運行了將近3年,但是,因技術原因Giove-B的發射已經被推遲了幾次。

作為Giove-B的主要合同商,Astrium負責開發、制造以及提交衛星、以及有效載荷和地面控制部分。Astrium這家公司位于德國Ottobrunn的分公司供應配備板上計算機的航空子系統,以及在太陽能發電機內部的光伏電池組件。

位于英國的Astrium設計和制造有效載荷,其中,包括內部的太空無源氫微波激射器(S-PHM)的集成和測試。這個位于英國樸茨茅斯的團隊也將負責在意大利Fucino的運營中心的地面衛星控制系統的開發、安裝和測試,以及在比利時Redu的在軌測試站(包括天線)的開發、安裝和測試。

Astrium位于馬德里的團隊為有效載荷提供結構和熱子系統、L波段導航天線以及在發射期間使用的有效載荷以及獨立系統。位于法國Les Mureaux的Astrium團隊提供太陽能發電機的電池板。

這將是無源氫激射器技術在原子鐘之中首次在軌測試。據說與過去的導航系統所采用的?e(Rb)技術相比,其精度更高且魯棒性更強,它將成為商用伽利略衛星的標準設備。

Giove-B將作為一個參考并形成在軌驗證(IOV)階段的鏈路,Astrium作為主要合同商已經構建了4顆衛星。ESA預期商用伽利略系統將在2013年投入運營。

在“Giove-B”衛星成功發射后,歐洲航天局局長讓-雅克·多爾丹難掩興奮之情。他說,雖然近兩年來伽利略計劃遇到種種困難,但在歐盟和歐洲航天局的緊密合作下,伽利略系統的部署已變得越來越具體。據悉,歐盟委員會和歐洲航天局隨后將進行一系列招標,制定更具體的項目合同分配方案,力爭如期完成地面基礎設施建設,把30顆衛星送入太空軌道,從而確保伽利略計劃的運行方案在2013年之后開始實施。目前,阿麗亞娜航天公司已對上述衛星部署計劃表現出濃厚興趣。

伽利略計劃對于歐盟具有關鍵意義,它不僅能使人們的生活更加方便,還將為歐盟的工業和商業帶來可觀的經濟效益。更重要的是歐盟將從此擁有自己的全球衛星導航系統,這不僅有助于打破美國GPS系統的壟斷地位,在全球高科技競爭浪潮中獲取有利位置,還可以為將來建設歐洲獨立防務創造條件。

翻頁查看英文報道:

Anxious weekend ahead for Galileo backers

Teams that have been developing and financing the Giove-B demonstrator and test satellite for Europe's fledgling satellite navigation project, Galileo, will have an anxious weekend as the bird is scheduled to be launched in the early hours of April 27th.

The Soyuz launch vehicle with the satellite on board has already taken up its final launch position at Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan for putting Giove-B into its reserved path at 23,000 km. Developed and manufactured by Astrium, the satellite will carry Galileo's key technologies into space for the first time, and is a trailblazer for the overall system.

Separately, on the funding front, the European Union has ratified Wednesday (April 23) the Euros 3.4 billion public bailout of the project. The approval removes the final hurdle after EU governments decided in November to use taxpayers' money to rescue the project, which is over budget and behind schedule.

The controversial fix meant having to divert funds from unused farm subsidies from last year's EU budget and rejigging research and industrial spending.

Ahead of Sunday's launch, Giove-B underwent final tests at the European Space Research and Technology Centre ESTEC of the European Space Agency ESA in Noordwijk, the Netherlands. Astrium is prime contactor for the second trial satellite for what will be a 30-satellite constellation offering GPS services.

The first test platform, Giove-A, produced by Surrey Satellite Technology Limited (Guildford, England), has worked flawlessly in orbit for nearly three years, but the launch of Giove B has been postponed several times for technical reasons.

As prime contractor for Giove-B, Astrium is responsible for developing, manufacturing and delivering the satellite, its payload and the ground control segment. The German Astrium site in Ottobrunn is supplying the avionic subsystem with central on-board computer, and the assembly of the photovoltaic cells within the solar generator.

Astrium UK designed and manufactured the payload, which included integrating and testing the Space Passive Hydrogen Maser (S-PHM) clock within it. The Portsmouth-based team was also responsible for the development, installation and test of the Ground Satellite Control system at the operations centre in Fucino, Italy, as well as at the IOT (In Orbit Test) station in Redu, Belgium, including the antenna.

Astrium in Madrid delivered the structure and the thermal subsystem for the payload, the L-band navigation antenna as well as the payload adapter and separation system used during the launch. The French Astrium team in Les Mureaux provided the panels for the solar generator.

This will be the first time the Passive Hydrogen Maser technology in the atomic clock will be tested in orbit. It is said to be far more accurate and robust than the rubidium (Rb) technology used in previous navigation systems, and will be standard equipment on commercial Galileo satellites.

Giove-B will serve as a reference and forms the link to the in-orbit validation (IOV) phase, in which Astrium as prime contractor is already building four further satellites. The ESA is expecting the commercial Galileo system to be operational by 2013.