One of two Galileo satellites, safely in its protective container, being unloaded from their Air France Boeing 747 at Cayenne-Félix Eboué Airport in French
Guiana on 5 February 2015. © ESA – Paul Muller

Another two Galileo satellites have touched down in French Guiana ready to take their place in Europe’s satellite navigation constellation, it was reported by the European Space Agency (ESA) on 6 February.

The pair, safely cocooned inside their air-conditioned containers inside an Air France Boeing 747, landed at Cayenne-Félix Eboué Airport on 5 February. They were then taken by lorry to be installed in the cleanroom surroundings of Europe’s Spaceport to begin final preparations for launch.

The seventh and eighth Galileo satellites will be launched together by Soyuz in late March, resuming the interrupted building of the satellite navigation
constellation.