Galileo-IOV FM3 (David)

Spacecraft nº:

ESA spacecraft nº: 79

Launch data: Designation  38857 / 12055A Launch date  12 Oct 2012 - 18:15 UT Launch site  Ko, ELS Launch vehicle  Soyuz-2-1b Fregat-MT Mission  Commercial: Navigation/GPS MEO Earth orbit on Oct 18.99: Perigee / Apogee  23214 x 23233 km Eccentricity  3,21E-04 Inclination  55.34 deg Period  844.76 min

Spacecraft data: Prime manufacturer  EADS Astrium Platform   Operator  ESA Mass at launch  700 kg Dry Mass   kg Basic shape   Dimension (m)   Equipment   Solar array  2 deployable solar arrays Stabilization   Propulsion   DC power  1420 W Design lifetime  12 yrs - still active

Description:

• Operational nucleus of the full 30-satellite constellation.

Mission details:

• The IOV 3 and 4 in-orbit validation satellites for the Galileo navigation system, Europe's analog to GPS, were orbited by a Soyuz/Fregat from the Centre Spatial Guyanais on Oct 12, 2012. The two satellites have been given the nicknames David and Sif in honor of two young competition winners, Mr. David Markarjanc (b.2001) of the Czech Republic and Ms. Sif Skov Christensen (b.2002) of Denmark.
• The Fregat-MT No. 1031 upper stage inserted the stack in a 202 x 23248 km x 56.0 deg transfer orbit; after a second burn at 2149 UTC the two satellites were ejected into circular orbit. The Soyuz-ST-B (Soyuz-2-1b) third stage was on a suborbital trajectory and reentered over the Atlantic at about 1832 UTC.
• On Oct 23 IOV-3 was in a 23215 x 23232 km x 55.3 deg orbit.