First Galileo Satellites Named GIOVE

GIOVE - standing for Galileo In-Orbit Validation Element - is the name that has been chosen for the two satellites which are currently being prepared to take the first step of the In-Orbit Validation phase towards full deployment of Galileo, the European satellite navigation system.

The name GIOVE was announced by Ms Karla Peijs, the Dutch Minister of Transport, Public Works & Water Management, on Wednesday 9 November, at ESA's ESTEC centre in Noordwijk (The Netherlands).

GIOVE A, the first of the two satellites, was presented to the media while undergoing final preparations at the ESTEC test facilities prior to being sent to the Baïkonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, from where it will be launched by a Soyuz rocket end of December 2005. The second, GIOVE B, will be launched later in 2006, also from Baïkonur.