ESA, on behalf of the European Commission, has signed two contracts for an overall amount of €1.47 billion, to design and build the first batch of Galileo Second Generation (G2) satellites. The contracts have been awarded to ThalesAleniaSpace (Italy) and Airbus Defence & Space (Germany) to create two independent families of satellites amounting to 12 satellites in total.

Galileo is Europe’s civil global navigation satellite system and currently the world’s most precise, offering metre-scale accuracy to more than four billion users around the globe. Galileo Second Generation satellites will integrate seamlessly with the current fleet to form the largest European satellite constellation and deliver essential services worldwide. There are now 32 Galileo First Generation (G1) satellites orbiting Earth with six more ready to be launched starting next year. 

With fully digital navigation payloads, electric propulsion, a more powerful navigation antenna, inter-satellite link capacity and an advanced atomic clock configuration, G2 satellites will enhance the system and provide more robust and reliable positioning, navigation and timing.