ESA Prepares for GIOVE-B Satellite Launch

The European Space Agency says it will provide live streaming video coverage of this weekend’s launch of its GIOVE-B satellite, the second Galileo satellite.

GIOVE-B — Galileo In Orbit Validation Element — is scheduled for launch at 6:16 p.m. EDT Saturday from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.

GIOVE-B was built by a European industrial team as a follow on project to the highly successful GIOVE-A — both ESA experimental navigation satellites used in development of Europe’s Galileo Positioning System.

In addition to its technology-demonstration mission, the ESA said GIOVE-B will take over GIOVE-A’s mission to secure the Galileo frequencies. GIOVE-A, launched in December 2005, is now approaching the end of its operational life.