Kourou – The seventh and eighth satellite of the European satellite navigation and localization system Galileo were successfully launched on March 27, with a Soyuz ST-B rocket from Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana. Telespazio plays a leading role in Galileo, having built at the Fucino Space Centre one of the two Control Centres which manage the constellation and the programme mission. Through Spaceopal, a company formed as a joint venture with DLR GfR, Telespazio is responsible for the operations and integrated logistics of the entire system, ensuring the management and coordination of the services. Spaceopal operates through the Galileo Control Centres in Oberpfaffenhofen (Munich) and Fucino (L’Aquila) for the provision of the navigation signals and the in-orbit control of the satellites. (9colonne)
