Arianespace Soyuz ST-B conducts another Galileo dual launch

An Arianespace Soyuz ST-B is lofting another pair of Galileo satellites from the European Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana on Thursday. The launch of the FM05 and FM06 satellites took place on schedule at 02:08 UTC, continuing the growth of Europe’s Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) constellation. Following the launch of four satellites Galileo In-Orbit Validation (IOV) satellites, forming the operational nucleus of the full 30-satellite constellation – FM01 and FM02 were then launched as the first two “Full Operational Capability (FOC)” birds to head into orbit. Their launch didn’t go to plan as they ended up in an elongated orbit traveling up to 25,900 km above Earth and back down to 13,713 km. More

(Source: NASASpaceFlight.com - Sep 11)