On 26th January, René Oosterlinck, ESA’s Director of the Galileo Programme and Navigation-related Activities, signed the first three contracts for the Galileo full operational capability phase. This event marks the start of building the Galileo operational infrastructure. The signing ceremony took place at ESA’s European Space Research and Technology Centre at Noordwijk in The Netherlands in the presence of Matthias Ruete, Director General Energy and Transport of the European Commission (EC) and Jean-Jacques Dordain, ESA’s Director General.

These contracts cover system, satellites and launch activities.