The Europeans have been fooling around with Galileo… <snip> a "European virility symbol," Raper said the system was not only of immense geopolitical importance but also "evidence that Europe has got its technological self-confidence back."
gpsworld.com
Galileo Industries Told to Put House in Order
Jan 23, 2007 - GPS World
Galileo's second act, satellite GIOVE-B, has yet to make its debut, and some tempers are wearing a bit thin in Europe.
Making his wishes known to the press in a January 17 appearance, European Space Agency (ESA) general director Jean-Jacques Dordain shot a thinly veiled warning towards Galileo Industries, the industry consortium responsible for building the second experimental Galileo satellite, and four more to come for the in-orbit validation (IOV) phase.
While the first satellite, GIOVE-A, built by Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd., a small UK firm, has been flying perfectly well since its December 2005 launch — and securing, at least temporarily, the allocated radio frequencies for the European system — its sibling GIOVE-B, first scheduled for launch in April 2006, then September, then December, remains glued to the ground.
Built by Galileo Industries, a conglomerate of European aerospace giants (Alcatel Alenia Space, 38 percent, EADS Astrium, 38 percent, Thales, 12 percent, and Galileo Sistemas y Servicios, 12 percent), the satellite suffered a short circuit during lab testing this summer. Recently word has surfaced in some quarters that the accident also damaged the satellite's motherboard, a very difficult, costly, and time consuming part to replace, and Dordain confirmed that the delay is due to a technical problem with a component of the onboard computer.
But he also asserted that there are organizational problems at the heart of Galileo Industries and sought assurances that a similar scenario would not play out with the crucial four IOV satellites that are scheduled to launch at the end of 2008. "The partners of Galileo Industries have not succeeded in overcoming their mutual distrust, nor have they yet arrived at an effective management structure," added another expert close to the problem.
Dordain said that during 2006, ESA created three separate boards of inquiry to determine why Galileo Industries had been unable to meet its schedule commitments. He demanded that the consortium "take action by March 2007 to ensure that the IOV functions correctly." Otherwise, Dordain threatened the partners with dissolution or other punitive action.
ESA has reportedly told Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd. that it may start preparing itself to bid for construction of a second satellite.
[Edit: good things come to those who wait.] |
