Galileo test satellites named ahead of launch
Ahead of its scheduled launch during the second half of December, the first Galileo test satellite was officially dubbed GIOVE (Galileo in-orbit validation element) during a ceremony in Noordwijk, the Netherlands on 9 November. The GIOVE satellite, built by Surrey Satellite Technology in the UK, will be launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, and is designed to secure the frequencies filed for Galileo with the International Telecommunications Union (ITU). Speaking at the event, which was also attended by the Dutch Minister of Transport and Public Works, Karla Peijs, Commission Vice-President in charge of transport, Jacques Barrot, declared: 'This is a big step in the history of Galileo. The in-orbit validation phase of the programme will now truly begin with the launch of the first satellite.' A second test satellite, developed by Galileo Industries consortium, was named GIOVE B at the same ceremony, and is scheduled for launch in spring 2006. The validation of the two test satellites will be followed by the launch in 2008 of the first four operational Galileo satellites.