Paris, Aug 22 (EFE) .- The two satellites of the future European Galileo navigation system that took off today from Kourou base in French Guiana, aboard a Soyuz rocket were injected into its final orbit at almost 23,500 miles high with an inclination of 55 degrees to the line of Ecuador.
The European Space Agency (ESA) said in a statement that the injection occurred 3 hours and 47 minutes after launch, performed at 09.27 local time in Kourou (12.27 GMT), and stressed that all rocket components behaved as expected.
The ESA will perform alongside the National Centre for Space Studies in France, a series of initial checks on the operation of these two satellites, after which monitoring will be the responsibility of the Galileo Control Centre in the German town of Oberpfaffenhofen and facilities in Redu, Belgium.
A Through these centers, they would undergo a series of tests with a view to its operational service from autumn.
With a weight of 714.3 and 715.3 kilos respectively, are the two first operational Galileo satellites device, in addition to four experimental launched into orbit in 2011 and 2012.
The final constellation of the European satellite navigation system will comprise 24 which, according to the program ESA, should be ready in 2017 and which will add six parts.
Today’s launch had to be delayed one day with respect to the initial program, since yesterday the weather at Kourou no were the best.
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