Staff writers
Europe takes the next step in creating its own navigation satellite constellation with the launch of the 13th and 14th Galileo satellites.
Launch time is scheduled for 08:48 UTC on 24 May from Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana.
The first three stages of the Soyuz rocket take the Galileo satellites and their Fregat upper stage into low orbit in just less than nine minutes. Then the reignitable Fregat will undergo two burns to lift the satellites for release in opposite directions at their target 22,522 kilometres-altitude orbit, three hours and 48 minutes after launch.
Streaming begins at 08:28 UTC for the launch, then resumes at 12:23 UTC to cover the satellites’ separation. You can watch live at the European Space Agency site here.
