The satellites that ended up in unplanned orbits were the first two that were launched for the Galileo project. Funded by the European Union, it is one of the biggest industrial projects in Europe since the launching of Airbus in the 1970s.
Galileo is a €5 billion project by the European Space Agency (ESA) and the European Union. It is aimed to rival the space-based satellite navigation technology, dubbed as Global Positioning System (GPS),that is operated by the U.S. Intended for civilian use, the project will involve 27 satellites and 3 spare satellites that would orbit above Earth by 14,600 miles. It is scheduled to be completed and fully operational by 2019.
The agency did not include in its statement if the orbital paths are capable to be corrected. The satellites, which are intended to hit the circular orbit, ended up in an orbit that is lower and elliptical. Initial analyses suggest that the mistake occurred when the satellites were on the flight state and that it involved the rocket's upper stage.
"Our aim is of course to fully understand this anomaly," says Stephane Israel, CEO and chairman at Arianespace.
It may seem like analyzing the exact causes may be too early but Arianespace is sending its sincere excuses to the agency and the commission for the satellite's missed orbit which went below the expected result.
According to an initial report, the problem was caused by an anomaly in the upper stage of the rocket. This anomaly caused the satellites to be ejected into the wrong orbit. Arianespace and ESA, together with the French space agency, are working with its Russian partners manufacturers namely NPO Lavotchkine and RKTs-Progress, and the Russian Space Agency to find out the cause of the defective orbits and to analyze the actions that should be taken in order to resume the Soyuz launches from the spaceport.
Jean-Yves Le Gall, president of the French space agency CNES, expressed that the investigation has to determine precisely the severity of the satellites' off-orbit situation. He added that European Space Agency experts in Darmstadt, Germany and Toulouse, France, were trying to figure out whether the satellites' small motors would be strong enough to help maneuver the satellites back to the correct orbit.
CEO Stephane Israel also sent out a tweet that they are forming an independent inquiry board to investigate the problems that occurred with the launch. The next launch is scheduled on September 11, 2014. It will involve one of the company's Ariane 5 rockets. The rocket will be carrying a pair of telecommunications satellites into orbit. One satellite is for Optus, an Australian communications company and one is for MEASAT, a Malaysian satellite provider.
