Company working with entities from 14 European countries on the new generation of Galileo satellites
Thales Alenia Space has signed a $334 million contract with the European Space Agency (ESA) to build the Galileo Second Generation (G2G) Ground Mission Segment and system engineering activities. The contract, which include Leonardo and Telespazio, call for a first version of G2G to be in operation to support the launch and Early Orbit Phase (LEOP) of the first new generation satellite.
Approximately 12 satellites will be launched in the next few years that offer better flexibility, security and infrastructure than the previous generation, the company said. The second version of the ground mission segment is in charge of generating and up-linking navigation services to the Galileo satellites.
Thales, which has two other contracts for G2G cybersecurity, said the new contract follows ones signed in 2021 that makes it the prime contractor for six out of the 12 satellites in the new constellation. The company said it was working with 14 European countries on the constellation contracts.
Overall, Galileo, which is the only GNSS under civilian control, is scheduled to have a constellation of 38 first-generation satellites. All smartphones sold in Europe are guaranteed to have Galileo-enabled capability, the company said.
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