18 May 2016

The latest satellites in Europe’s Galileo satellite navigation system will be launched together on 24 May. Media are invited to take part in an audio briefing on 23 May.
Galileos 13 and 14 are scheduled to lift off at 08:48:43 GMT (05:48:43 local time, 10:48:43 CEST) on 24 May from Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana atop a Soyuz launcher. They are expected to become operational, after initial in-orbit testing, later in the year.

Further Galileo satellites are currently taking shape: their payloads are being built by Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd in Guildford, UK, while their platforms and overall integration are the responsibility of OHB in Bremen, Germany. The satellites are exhaustively tested at ESA’s ESTEC centre in the Netherlands before being transported across the Atlantic to Europe’s Spaceport.
This will be the seventh Galileo launch, set to bring the number of satellites in space up to 14. Four more Galileo satellites are planned to take flight in the autumn, launched for the first time on a customised Ariane 5 to bring the total number of satellites in the constellation to 18.

Pre-launch media briefing
Paul Verhoef, ESA’s Director of the Galileo Programme and Navigation-related Activities, will hold an audio-only press briefing on Galileo on Monday, 23 May at 16:30 GMT (18:30 CEST).
Media interested in joining the briefing should request access information via email to ESA’s Media Relations Office at: media@esa.int by 20 May 2016 at the latest.

Covering the launch
ESA TV
In cooperation with Arianespace, ESA TV provides broadcasters with free live videostream of the launch via satellite. Several stories have also been prepared on Galileo. More information at: http://www.esa.int/esatv/Television