Press Releases

Galileo FOC satellites Danielè and Alizée successfully launched

Kourou, May 24, 2016. Known as Danielè and Alizée, another two Galileo FOC* satellites developed and built by OHB System AG have been successfully launched on board a Soyuz launcher, which lifted off from the Kourou space center in French-Guiana today at 10:48 CEST.

Less than four hours later they reached their planned orbit at an altitude of around 23,000 kilometers. Shortly after they sent their first “sign of life” to the ESOC Control Center in Darmstadt. Over the next few days, the two satellites will be undergoing preliminary function testing.

Executive board member, Dr. Ingo Engeln, responsible for navigation says: “Following the successful initialisation, a stable connection with the two satellites has been established and the solar panels have been unfolded and correctly aligned towards the sun. All the previously launched Galileo FOC satellites have already demonstrated their full functional and performance capabilities. Our satellite production in Bremen and environmental tests in Noordwijk are proceeding according to schedule.”

In the coming week, the Galileo control center in Oberpfaffenhofen will take over responsibility for controlling Danielè and Alizée on behalf of ESA and the European Commission. Later on also the payloads supplied by SSTL will be set in operation from Oberpfaffenhofen.

OHB System AG being the industrial prime contractor is responsible for supplying a total of 22 Galileo FOC navigation satellites. Today’s successful launch brings the number of OHB-built satellites in orbit to a new total of ten, with a further 12 to follow. OHB in Bremen is using seven islands in parallel for the production of the Galileo FOC satellites.

About OHB System AG

OHB System AG is one of the three leading space companies in Europe. It belongs to Bremen-based listed high-tech group OHB SE, where around 2,000 specialists and executives work on key European space programs. With more than three decades of experience, OHB System AG specializes in high-tech solutions for space. This includes low-orbiting and geostationary satellites for earth observation, navigation, telecommunications, science and space exploration as well as systems and experiments for human space flight.

*The FOC (full operational capability) phase of the Galileo program is being funded and executed by the European Union. The European Commission and the European Space Agency ESA have signed a contract under which ESA acts as the development and sourcing agency on behalf of the Commission. The view expressed here does not necessary reflect the official position of the European Union and/or ESA. “Galileo” is a registered trademark owned by the EU and ESA and registered under OHIM application number 002742237.

Contact for media representatives: 

Marianne Radel
Head of Corporate Communications
Phone: +49 421 2020 9159
Email: marianne.radel@ohb.de

Contact for investors and analysts: 

Marcel Dietz
Investor Relations
Phone: +49 421 2020 6426
Email: ir@ohb.de

New articles from our magazine