The antenna will be one of two TT and C antennas that are employed during the In Orbit Validation Phase (IOV). The second one will be located at Kourou near the equator. The antenna at Esrange will be an impressive piece of infrastructure for the Galileo mission and assures reliable contact between the satellite control centre and the Galileo satellites.

"We are very proud of ESA's long-term commitment to Esrange, choosing us as an active partner in the Galileo programme", says Mr. Mikael Stern, General Manager, SSC Satellite Operations Division. "After all the studies and the support we have done for the two first satellites within the Galileo project, Giove-A and Giove-B, we now look forward to this next phase", Mr. Stern concludes.

"To meet the security requirements of Galileo we need to further enhance and sharpen guarding and surveillance of the site," says Mr. Martin Hedlin, Security and Safety Manager at Esrange. "This will be beneficial for all our business assignments and for the whole facility," adds Mr. Stern.

SSC's satellite ground station facility at Esrange Space Center is part of a global network of satellite ground stations called PrioraNet. This network will be used to provide LEOP support for the Galileo IOV satellites.

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