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Arianespace Prepares Next Pair of Galileo Satellites for Soyuz Launch

By Jeffrey Hill | October 4, 2012

      [Satellite TODAY 10-04-12] Arianespace has integrated two European Galileo navigation satellites on their payload dispenser aboard a medium-lift Soyuz rocket, which will be launched Oct. 12 from the European spaceport in French Guiana.

            The European Space Agency’s (ESA) Galileo FM3 and FM4 satellites were installed onto the rocket’s dispenser system, which then will be encapsulated in the Soyuz payload fairing. 
            The dual-payload Galileo dispenser, developed by RUAG Space Sweden, carries the satellites in a side-by-side arrangement.  It will deploy the spacecraft by firing a pyrotechnic separation system to release them in opposite directions at the orbital insertion point.
            The two Galileo spacecrafts will join another pair of similar European navigation satellites orbited October 2011 on Arianespace’s maiden Soyuz flight from its spaceport. The upcoming Soyuz mission is Arianespace’s third from French Guiana.