This is a list of past and present satellites of the Galileo navigation system. The fully operational constellation will nominally consist of 30 satellites in Medium Earth Orbit, with 24 active and 6 spares equally divided into 3 orbital planes in a Walker 24/3/1 configuration.[1]
As of September 2024, 32 Galileo (4 IOV "In Orbit Validation" and 28 FOC "Full Operational Capability") satellites have been launched. The 2 GIOVE ("Galileo In-Orbit Validation Element") prototype vehicles were retired in 2012. Currently, 25 satellites are operational, 2 are undergoing commissioning, 4 are not usable, and 1 is decommissioned.
The remaining 6 FOC satellites have completed manufacturing and testing. They are currently in storage awaiting launch by Ariane 6.[2]
Batch 1 consists of 14 FOC satellites (Galileo-FOC FM1 to Galileo-FOC FM14)
Batch 2 consists of 8 FOC satellites (Galileo-FOC FM15 to Galileo-FOC FM22)
Batch 3 consists of 12 FOC satellites (Galileo-FOC FM23 to Galileo-FOC FM34)
In parallel to Batch 3's completion, the Galileo Second Generation (G2G) satellites, featuring electric propulsion, enhanced navigation signals and capabilities, inter-satellite links and reconfigurability in space, were in development by Thales Alenia Space (TAS) and Airbus Defence and Space, with their deployment expected to begin in 2026.[3][5][6][7][8]
The initial 28 satellites were each named after a child that won the European Commission's Galileo drawing competition. One winner was selected from each member state of the European Union.[9]
Launched into incorrect orbit, moved to usable orbit.[12] Broadcasting service test since 5 August 2016. Currently not usable since 18 February 2021 until further notice as some brands of commercial receiver have difficulty calculating their orbit.[13][14]
^"Notice Advisory to Galileo Users (NAGU) 2021008". EUSPA. 16 February 2021. Retrieved 1 December 2021. Galileo auxiliary satellites GSAT0201 and GSAT0202 are unavailable since 2021-02-18 beginning 09:30 UTC, due to a temporary setting of the fnav and inav health bits to unhealthy, until further notice
^"Notice Advisory to Galileo Users (NAGU) 2017045". EUSPA. 23 November 2017. Retrieved 1 December 2021. Galileo satellite GSAT0204 not contributing to service provision (all signals) since 2017-12-08 until further notice
^"Ariane 5: Accommodating Galileo". myinternalreferral.com. 17 May 2014. Archived from the original on 23 July 2015. Retrieved 23 July 2015. First of all, we are having to design a new dispenser to accommodate the four satellites in the best way possible, optimising the way the loads transmitted by the launcher are filtered out" explains Marie-Paule Gense, head of development programmes for the Ariane 5 ECA and ES versions at Les Mureaux "Nothing similar exists in this configuration