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A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket has successfully deployed two Galileo satellites into orbit

SpaceX recently successfully delivered two new Galileo satellites (numbers 31 and 32) into medium Earth orbit (MEO) using a Falcon 9 rocket, the 13th launch of the Galileo programme and under contract to the European Space Agency (ESA). The two satellites will join the existing Galileo satellite network and enhance its service capabilities. After reaching their final destination of 23,222 kilometres, the satellites will be tested before being officially launched. Javier Benedicto, director of ESA's Navigation Department, mentioned that with the deployment of these two satellites, Galileo completes its constellation as designed, reaching the required configuration of operational satellites plus one backup satellite for each orbital plane.

This comes on the heels of SpaceX's launch of Galileo satellites 29 and 30 in April as well, which went into service earlier this month. ESA is the designer and system developer of Galileo, and together with OHB has developed and tested 38 satellites since the inception of Galileo.

Late last year, ESA signed an agreement with U.S.-based SpaceX to launch the four satellites, following ongoing delays in Europe's chosen launch programmes, including Ariane 6 and Vega-6. Ariane 6 completed its maiden flight in July and is expected to launch the remaining six Galileo first-generation satellites in 2025 and 2026 in pairs.

Galileo's second generation (G2) satellites are currently being developed by Thales Alenia Space and Airbus Defence and Space. The first of these will also be launched into orbit by Europe's Ariane 6. The relocation of the ground segment of the Galileo satellites was completed in April in preparation for the G2 satellites, which will be equipped with all-digital navigation payloads, electric propulsion, more powerful navigation antennas, inter-satellite link capability and advanced atomic clock configurations. Airbus has begun production of Galileo second-generation satellites, which are scheduled to be launched in the coming years to support the initial deployment and validation of the G2 system. These new satellites will be equipped with enhanced navigation antennas that will help to improve the accuracy of the European GNSS system and, for the first time, will be equipped with electric propulsion and higher-strength navigation antennas, as well as all-digital payloads that can be easily reconfigured in orbit to meet the changing needs of users.

Strong support in the field of high-precision GNSS is provided by Septentrio, a high-technology company specialising in the design, manufacture and marketing of high-precision GPS/GNSS receivers for demanding applications requiring decimetre or centimetre-level accuracy.

One of the company's star products is the Septentrio Mosaic GNSS module, which includes the mosaic-X5 and mosaic-H models. mosaic-X5 is a compact, high-precision GPS/GNSS module capable of delivering centimetre-level positioning performance in challenging environments, supporting all current and future GNSS satellite signals.

The module features Septentrio's unique AIM+ technology, which provides advanced anti-jamming and anti-spoofing solutions to ensure optimal availability, reliability and accuracy.

In addition, mosaic-H is a directional-capable GNSS module that uses dual antennas to provide accurate and reliable heading and pitch or heading and roll angles, as well as advanced anti-jamming and anti-spoofing capabilities
These modules are designed to provide accurate positioning and navigation for applications such as automation, robotics, driverless cars, etc, maintaining performance even in the face of interference or spoofing attempts.

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