PARIS – Two European satellites ended up in the wrong orbits and space officials of the old continent analyze if the wrong complicate deployment plans to develop Galileo, a new navigation system satellite to rival the American GPS network.
The European Space Agency and Arianespace launch company reported that satellites ended up in the wrong orbit after being launched on Friday from Kourou, French Guiana, on board Soyuz rocket.
The agency issued a statement on Saturday where they explained the difference between planned and final orbits of the satellites, nor clarified what possibilities there are to correct their orbital paths. Arianespace said the devices were in lower than planned orbit.
The European Union expects to have 30 satellites for Galileo navigation network fully operational by 2020 program, based in Prague, he oversaw the launch of its first two satellites in 2011, two in 2012, and two more on Friday.
Jean-Yves Le Gall, chairman of the French space agency CNES, said research is needed with precision how far were the satellites from its original course. He added that experts from the European Space Agency in Toulouse, France, and Darmstadt, Germany, calculate whether small satellites motors inside would be strong enough to push them into the correct orbit.
Le Gall said The Associated Press in a telephone interview that the investigation will take “several days to understand what happened. then see the possible consequences on the release schedule,” he added, referring to plans to launch more satellites in the coming months.
The navigation network Galileo is “a very complex program,” the president of the French agency. “Although we have some flaws, this is unfortunately part of life operations,” he said.
If the two satellites do not reach the right height, he said, will be necessary to launch other satellites may succeed.
The program has been operational delays and other setbacks. Officials from the European Space Agency said Wednesday that should reduce the strength of the signal from another satellite system Galileo unspecified problems.
European agency expects to provide more accurate Galileo navigation satellite GPS is already used worldwide to identify locations and plan routes.
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