GIOVE-B (Galileo In-Orbit Validation Element-B) is the second of the test versions of the 30-craft European Union navigational fleet that is planned to be launched beginning 2010. It was launched by a Soyuz-Fregat rocket from Baikonur at 22:16 UT on 2008 April 26. (A similar version, GIOVE-A, was launched in 2005 December.) The 500-kg craft carries two (redundant) Rubidium atomic clocks, and an even more precise Passive Hydrogen Maser with an accuracy of one nanosecond/day. It also carries a radiation-monitoring payload, and a laser retro-reflector for high-accuracy laser ranging. When completed, this Galileo fleet will become the third available fleet, after the long-functional GPS and the to-be-completed GLONASS fleets. The initial orbital parameters were period 842 min, apogee 23,154 km, perigee 23,015 km, inclination 56 degrees.
GIOVE-A and GIOVE-B were deactivated and retired in July, 2012.
Facts in Brief
Launch Date: 2008-04-26
Launch Vehicle: Soyuz-Fregat
Launch Site: Tyuratam (Baikonur Cosmodrome), Kazakhstan