17.02.2022
Galileo: Spaceopal confirmed as Service Operator under the European satellite navigation programme
The European Union Agency for the Space Programme (EUSPA) has confirmed Spaceopal, a joint venture owned in equal parts by Telespazio (Leonardo 67%/Thales 33%) and DLR-GfR (owned by the German Space Agency, DLR), as Galileo Service Operator (GSOp) for the next 5 years.
Following the conclusion of a dedicated specific contract, Spaceopal will continue to operate and maintain the European Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) Galileo until 2026, guaranteeing continuity of the work that has been underway since 2016.
Spaceopal already operates and maintains the Galileo System (ground and space segments) and ensures compliance with the Galileo Services performance requirements, under the leadership of EUSPA. The company is specifically concerned with the system’s operations, monitoring and control, security, service administration, logistics and maintenance of systems and all infrastructure assets, support to evolution and deployment activities, provision of enabling services and as well as services supporting users.
Spaceopal performs these tasks through the Galileo Control Centre (GCC) in Fucino, at Telespazio’s “Piero Fanti” space centre in the province of L’Aquila in Italy, which has recently been expanded with a new building, and its twin centre in Oberpfaffenhofen, on the premises of the DLR in Germany. The company also operate, maintains,e European GNSS Service Center (GSC) in Madrid, Spain, the interface between the Galileo system and its users, and the network of sites and ground stations distributed all over the world connected by the Galileo Data Distribution Network.
“Our mission at EUSPA is to ensure that users access safe, secure and performant Galileo Services. With this contract, we guarantee the delivery of the world’s most precise positioning system reaching more than 2,5 billion users worldwide. This is made possible thanks to our robust collaboration with industrial partners such as Spaceopal,” said Rodrigo da Costa, EUSPA Executive Director.
“The awarding of the third phase in the contract confirms the appreciation and confidence in Spaceopal’s work over the past few years. We will continue to work with EUSPA and the European institutions to guarantee the system’s efficiency and develop increasingly innovative new services for Galileo’s users all over the world.” Marco Folino, Spaceopal CEO.