The satellite navigation GIOVE-B successfully completes its first year in orbit. Manufactured by an industrial team led by Astrium under contract with the European Space Agency (ESA), GIOVE-B is the second mission in orbit demonstration dedicated to the European Galileo satellite navigation.

• Astrium demonstration of technical feasibility of Galileo

• Measures over the long term signal quality

• The atomic clocks provide precision performance

Reinhold Lutz, Director of the navigation at Astrium, said: "The success of GIOVE-B demonstrates the expertise of Astrium in the development of satellite navigation complex. This mission has allowed engineers to test in orbit the new technologies needed for the Galileo constellation, which will pave the way for the navigation system vital for economic and technological future

of Europe. " GIOVE-B (500 kg) was initiated in medium earth orbit (MEO) aboard a Soyuz rocket from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on 27 April 2008. After an intensive round of tests in orbit, the satellite was declared fully operational in July. Since then, GIOVE-B signals sent its evidence to navigation receivers distributed on the ground all around the Earth, allowing engineers and researchers to measure the signal quality over the long term. GIOVE-B is the first satellite broadcasting, from space, a signal using the standard modulation MBOC (Multiplexed Binary Offset Coding), foreshadowing its future use by the satellites of the Galileo system. The GIOVE-B satellite to its board three clocks of high precision, including a passive hydrogen maser - the reference time the most advanced ever used in orbit, with an accuracy better than one nanosecond per day. The behavior of the maser in orbit has proven remarkably, confirming that this technology and other equally crucial to provide high performance expected of the Galileo system. Astrium is prime contractor for the work and responsibility for the navigation payload of the satellite GIOVE-B in Germany and the United Kingdom. Thales Alenia Space (Italy) contributed to the assembly, integration and tests of the satellite. Joint program of the European Space Agency (ESA) and the European Union, the Galileo constellation will comprise 30 satellites dedicated, coupled with a network of ground support, which offer users satellite navigation with an accuracy of location less than one meter. Galileo should be fully operational in 2013. Astrium is a subsidiary of EADS, is dedicated to systems and services, civil and military space. In 2008, Astrium had a turnover of 4.3 billion euros, with more than 15 000 employees in France, Germany, the United Britain, Spain and the Netherlands. Its three main areas of activity revolve around the division Astrium Space Transportation for launchers and orbital infrastructure, Astrium Satellites for spacecraft and ground systems, and its 100% subsidiary Astrium Services for the development and delivery of satellite services. EADS is a global leader in aerospace, defense and related services. In 2008, EADS recorded a turnover of 43.3 billion euros with a workforce of more than 118 000 people.