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Galileo Satellites Put to the Test

November 11, 2013  - By
The main antenna of the second Galileo Full Operational Capability (FOC) satellite being inspected with a flashlight in advance of mass property testing during August 2013.

The main antenna of the second Galileo Full Operational Capability (FOC) satellite being inspected with a flashlight in advance of mass property testing during August 2013.

Europe’s next pair of Galileo satellites have been the focus of a busy autumn at the European Space Agency’s (ESA’s) technical centre in the Netherlands, continuing a full-scale campaign to ensure their readiness for space.

The first Galileo Full Operational Capability (FOC) satellite, FM1, seen beside the Phenix test chamber being readied for its five-week long thermal vacuum testing in October 2013.

The first Galileo Full Operational Capability (FOC) satellite, FM1, seen beside the Phenix test chamber being readied for its five-week long thermal vacuum testing in October 2013.

With the first four Galileos already in orbit, these new versions are the first two of a total 22 Full Operational Capability (FOC) satellites being built by OHB in Germany with a payload from Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd. in the UK.

The second satellite joined its predecessor in mid-August at ESA’s European Space Research and Technology Centre in Noordwijk. This is the largest spacecraft testing site in Europe, with a full range of space simulation facilities under a single roof in cleanroom conditions. A wide range of tests have been performed on the two satellites.

The first of the two satellites is now midway through a five-week immersion in vacuum and temperature extremes that mimic the conditions it faces in space. This thermal-vacuum test takes place inside a 4.5-meter diameter stainless-steel vacuum chamber called Phenix. An inner box called the thermal tent has sides that are heated to simulate the Sun’s radiation or cooled down by liquid nitrogen to create the chill of Sunless space.

Second Galileo Full Operational Capability (FOC) satellite being prepared for acoustic testing, simulating the noise of a rocket launch, inside the Large European Acoustic Facility, LEAF, of the ESTEC Test Centre in early September 2013.

Second Galileo Full Operational Capability (FOC) satellite being prepared for acoustic testing, simulating the noise of a rocket launch, inside the Large European Acoustic Facility, LEAF, of the ESTEC Test Centre in early September 2013.

The newly arrived satellite first underwent a mass property test — measured to check its center of gravity and mass are aligned within design specifications. The more precisely these are known, the more efficiently the satellite’s orientation can be controlled with thruster firings in orbit, potentially elongating their working life by conserving propellant.

Meanwhile, its predecessor left the wider universe behind in the Maxwell Test Chamber. Shielded walls blocking out all external electrical signals and spiky, radio-absorbing anechoic material lining the chamber enable electromagnetic compatibility testing. Isolated within the chamber as though floating in infinite space, the satellite could be switched on to check all its systems can operate together without interference.

September saw the second satellite undergo acoustic testing in the Large European Acoustic Facility, LEAF, effectively the largest sound system in Europe. The first satellite submitted to this trial just a few weeks before. A quartet of noise horns are embedded in one wall of this 11-meter-wide, 9-meter-deep and 16.4-meter-high chamber, generating sound by passing nitrogen gas through the horns, surpassing 140 decibels.

Galileo Full Operational Capability (FOC) satellite first flight model, FM1, being prepared for 'passive intermodulation testing' within the Maxwell electromagnetic test facility inside the ESTEC Test Centre at the end of August 2013.

Galileo Full Operational Capability (FOC) satellite first flight model, FM1, being prepared for ‘passive intermodulation testing’ within the Maxwell electromagnetic test facility inside the ESTEC Test Centre at the end of August 2013.

Accelerometers placed within the satellite checked for potentially hazardous internal vibration during this trial by sound. Then the spacecraft was vibrated on the shaker tables, simulating the violent forces of a rocket launch.

Up-and-down vibration on the QUAD shaker followed by side-to-side shaking on the horizontal shaker, with data gathered across hundreds of channels.

The satellite was then connected to the dispenser that will hold it during launch to simulate the separation at the end of its climb to orbit. This separation is triggered by firing a pyro device which then pushes the satellite away from the dispenser. This demonstration took place last month.

“There will always be two Galileo satellites being tested at the ESTEC Test Centre for the next few years,” explains Giuliano Gatti, the head of the Galileo Space Segment Procurement Office.

“As the Galileo constellation takes shape, ESTEC will remain an essential part of each satellite’s pathway to space, between the end of manufacturing in Germany and UK and the launch by Soyuz ST-B or Ariane-5 from Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana.

“Of course, the testing on these initial FOC satellites is especially rigorous because we are validating the overall design. The Galileo satellites to follow will undergo more streamlined ‘acceptance’ testing instead.”

The next two satellites are in final assembly at OHB in Germany, scheduled to reach ESTEC early next year, as these first two satellites head off to French Guiana for launch.

Galileo Full Operational Capability Flight Model 2, FM2, satellite's main L-band antenna used for broadcasting navigation messages, seen during preparation for a mass property test at the ESTEC Test Centre at the end of August 2013.

Galileo Full Operational Capability Flight Model 2, FM2, satellite’s main L-band antenna used for broadcasting navigation messages, seen during preparation for a mass property test at the ESTEC Test Centre at the end of August 2013.