EU awards Galileo contracts
Posted: Fri, Jan 8, 2010, 8:00 AM ET (1300 GMT)
The European Union announced Thursday a series of contracts to build and launch the initial set of satellites for the Galileo navigation system. The biggest contract, valued at €566 million (US$810 million), went to OHB System and Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd. for the construction of 14 satellites. The OHB/SSTL team beat out a competing bid from Astrium and Thales Alenia Space, the two largest European satellite manufacturers; EADS owns both Astrium and SSTL. Arianespace received a €397 million (US$569 million) contract to launch 10 of the satellites, two at a time on five Soyuz rockets. Thales Alenia Space won a €85 million (US$122 million) contract for support services. The contracts are structured to begin satellite launches in 2012, with all the satellites launched by 2014 to permit initial operations of the satellite navigation system to begin. However, these initial contracts fall short of the 24 satellites needed for Galileo to provide navigation services globally. Three additional contracts, covering ground infrastructure and operations, will be awarded this summer.
The European Union announced Thursday a series of contracts to build and launch the initial set of satellites for the Galileo navigation system. The biggest contract, valued at €566 million (US$810 million), went to OHB System and Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd. for the construction of 14 satellites. The OHB/SSTL team beat out a competing bid from Astrium and Thales Alenia Space, the two largest European satellite manufacturers; EADS owns both Astrium and SSTL. Arianespace received a €397 million (US$569 million) contract to launch 10 of the satellites, two at a time on five Soyuz rockets. Thales Alenia Space won a €85 million (US$122 million) contract for support services. The contracts are structured to begin satellite launches in 2012, with all the satellites launched by 2014 to permit initial operations of the satellite navigation system to begin. However, these initial contracts fall short of the 24 satellites needed for Galileo to provide navigation services globally. Three additional contracts, covering ground infrastructure and operations, will be awarded this summer.
Related Links:
| <<previous article | next article>> |
|
news in brief
|
|
|
|
news links
|
|
Wednesday, March 18
Firefly Aerospace looks ahead to moon missions, more launches after Alpha rocket’s return to flight
Austin (TX) American-Statesman — 7:06 am ET (1106 GMT) ESA seeks scalable VLEO platforms for satellite video
ESA — 7:06 am ET (1106 GMT) Now Open: Request for Information (RFI) for the Mid-size LEO satellite INDustrialisation (M-IND) initiative
ESA — 7:06 am ET (1106 GMT) Starlink rival SES sells ‘space bonds’ ranked lower than hybrids
Luxembourg Times — 7:04 am ET (1104 GMT) Elon Musk’s Starlink now available in UAE, says company's website
The National (UAE) — 7:02 am ET (1102 GMT) |
