New breed

Galileo FOC - These pictures give the first detailed views of the next batch of Galileo satellites, the first of which has already been delivered to ESA for rigorous testing in simulated space conditions. The first Galileo Full Operational Capability (FOC) satellite was delivered to ESA's ESTEC technical centre in Noordwijk, the Netherlands on 15 May. It is being prepared for testing in the ESTEC Test Centre, a unique facility for Europe with all the facilities needed to validate a satellite for launch under one roof. Galileo FOC main antenna - Galileo FOC is dominated by its circular L-band antenna that will continuously broadcast navigation messages down to Earth. Galileo FOC search and rescue antenna - Galileo's smaller, hexagonal antenna beside its main navigation antenna is designed to pick up emergency messages from vessels in distress to relay to search and rescue authorities, contributing to the international Cospas-Sarsat system. Galileo FOC satellite does same work as IOV predecessor - The 'business end' of the Galileo FOC satellite - L-band navigation antenna and the smaller search and rescue antenna on the same face. This initial FOC satellite is functionally identical to the first four Galileo In-Orbit Validation satellites already in orbit, the operational nucleus of the full Galileo constellation, but has been built by a separate industrial team.