The European Union Agency for the Space Program (EUSPA) confirmed Spaceopal, j equal between Telespazio (Leonardo 67% / Thales 33%) and DLR-GfR (subsidiary of the German Space Agency DLR), as Galileo Service Operator (GSOp) for the next 5 years.
Following the conclusion of a new dedicated contract, Spaceopal will continue to manage the Galileo European satellite navigation and positioning system (GNSS) until 2026, thus ensuring the continuity of the activities carried out since 2016.
Spaceopal operates and maintains the Galileo system (space and ground segments), under the responsibility of EUSPA, while ensuring compliance with the performance requirements for Galileo services. In particular, the company deals with the operations, monitoring and control of Galileo, its security, service management, logistics and maintenance of systems and infrastructures, support for evolution activities, provision of enabling services as well as support to users.
Spaceopal carries out these activities through the Galileo Control Center (GCC) of Fucino, at the "Piero Fanti" Space Center of Telespazio, in the province of L'Aquila, recently expanded with a new building, and the twin Center of Oberpfaffenhofen, at the DLR site in Munich, Germany. The company also operates and maintains the GNSS Service Center in Madrid, Spain, the interface between the Galileo system and the users, and the network of sites and ground stations distributed around the globe and connected by the Galileo Data Distribution Network. .
“Our mission at EUSPA is to ensure that users have access to safe and high-performance Galileo services. With this contract, we are ensuring the services of the most accurate positioning system in the world to more than 2,5 billion users around the world. This is a possible result thanks to our solid collaboration with industrial partners such as Spaceopal ", said Rodrigo da Costa, Executive Director of EUSPA.
“The award of the third contractual phase is the confirmation of the trust and appreciation of the work carried out by Spaceopal in recent years. We will continue to work alongside EUSPA and the European institutions to ensure the efficiency of the system and to develop new and increasingly innovative services for Galileo users around the world ", declared Marco Folino, CEO of Spaceopal.
