ESA to test new Galileo satellite

According to an ESA statement, the agency has received its next Galileo satellite from the German manufacturer OHB, in Bremen. The satellite was carried by truck and encased in an environmentally-controlled container. It arrived at the cleanroom of ESTEC, the ESA’s technical facility in the Netherlands, on December 18. The satellite, dubbed Flight Model 6 (FM06), will undergo a round of tests before being launched into Earth orbit. At ESTEC, FM06 will endure simulated aspects of the space environment, including an acoustic chamber, shaker tables, and anechoic and vacuum chambers. If FM06 succeeds in its evaluation, it will be flown to Europe’s Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana. More

(Source: The Space Reporter - Dec 31)