On April 28, 2024 at 00:34 UTC SpaceX launched its 42nd orbital mission of 2024 from ramp 39A at Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Leaving aside the fact that the B1060 stage—which was carrying out its twentieth mission, thus tying it with B1062—was not recovered, the most notable thing about the launch was the placing into orbit of two Galileo positioning system satellites on the Galileo mission. L12. Yes, you read it right. Two European satellites were launched into orbit by an American Falcon 9 rocket. And what’s so special about this? Well, European government satellites must be launched using European launchers, but, unfortunately, Ariane 5 has already been retired and, as we know, Ariane 6 has not yet carried out its first mission.
This crisis of European launchers – to the problems of the Ariane 6 we must add those of the Italian Vega – has been aggravated by the breakdown of relations with Russia as a result of the invasion of Ukraine, which has meant that the Soyuz launcher is also not available in French Guiana (precisely, the Soyuz-STB was the rocket that put the first fourteen operational satellites of the constellation into orbit). For this reason, several European strategic payloads have recently been launched, or are going to be launched, by SpaceX’s Falcon 9, such as the Euclid space telescope or the Hera probe. And what’s wrong with this? To begin with, it places Europe in a position of dependence on other countries, a dependence that it had managed to eliminate in the 1970s (it is important to emphasize that nothing happens if a private company launches its satellite using any rocket it wants, but it is a matter different when we talk about state projects of strategic importance for Europe). Furthermore, there is another issue that is not usually talked about and that is the small problem of advanced European technologies being at the mercy of possible direct espionage by other countries.
And this is not being paranoid: the US would never launch its GPS satellites – a system under military control, let’s not forget – with vectors from other countries, not even European ones. In fact, the United States ITAR regulation even prevents the launch of satellites by private companies in the country using Chinese rockets, for example. In any case, this is the situation we have had to live through. However, yesterday’s launch put on the table the delicate situation of the European launchers by ignoring all the official accounts of the entities related to the launch that the mission had been carried out by a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, including the notes official press releases.
Even more absurd is that at the request of the client, in this case EUSPA (European Union Agency for the Space Program), dependent on the European Commission, SpaceX decided not to publish any information about the launch, as if it were classified cargo. The live broadcast was cut off after orbit insertion and no further details were given about the additional second stage firings or their duration, details that were also not given in writing (in case anyone thinks this is normal, this information is It was supplied when the Galileos were launched with Soyuz or Ariane 5 rockets).
In this senseless spirit of secrecy, no image of the satellites before launch has been published either. As if it hadn’t existed. Even when sharing a photo of the launch, the official EUSPA account was unable to mention the Falcon 9 or SpaceX. Of course, all this secrecy is intended to try to prevent public opinion from finding out that the Galileo 29 and Galileo 30 satellites, officially called Galileo FOC FM25 (GSAT0225) and FM27 (GSAT0227), were not launched by an Ariane 62, which He was to be in charge of renewing the constellation by launching pairs of satellites. Needless to say, if this was the intention the result has been quite counterproductive. It would not have cost anything to add the launcher information, especially considering that European public bodies are committed to transparency and truth. At the end of the day, it was all about the payload. The Ariane 6 will not be ready sooner because the European authorities decide not to talk about the issue. Anyway. There is still another additional Falcon 9 mission to launch a couple of Galileo satellites, so let’s hope that by then the European authorities won’t make fools of themselves again.
This mission has been the first of the Galileo system, operational since 2016, since December 2021. Twelve launches of the system have been carried out, placing 30 satellites into orbit: 4 prototypes (IOV) and 26 operational satellites (FOC). There are now 32 satellites and 28 FOCs (a minimum of 22 are required for the system to operate with maximum precision). Eight FOC satellites remain to be launched, which will take off, as we have mentioned, aboard a Falcon 9 and three Ariane 62. The new generation of Galileo, the G2, is currently being built, which will include electric propulsion, more powerful navigation antennas, improved atomic clocks. To reach the MEO orbit of 23,000 kilometers altitude and 54.7º inclination, the Falcon 9 of this mission needed all its power and not only the first stage was discarded, but the second stage also remained in very high orbit and there It will continue forever and ever, which is still paradoxical after talking about the problem that the higher stages constitute in relation to the mission of ADRAS-J.
