28 January 2025 – Arianespace announced today at the 17th European Space Conference the signature of the launch contract with the European Commission and the European Union Agency for the Space Programme (EUSPA) to orbit the first pair of second-generation satellites (L17) of the Galileo navigation constellation on board an Ariane 6. Both satellites, weighing between 2,200 kg and 2,400 kg each, and equipped with electrical propulsion, once launched will reach the Galileo constellation’s operational orbit at an altitude of 23,222 km after a few months. With this signature, the European Commission and the EUSPA are formalizing the launch contract of L17 entrusted to Arianespace in April 2024. Read more