LIVE COVERAGE: GIOVE-B Launch (updated 22:30 GMT)

22:30 GMT (6:26 pm EDT): The Fregat shut down successfully after a 20 seconds burn. It will fire another two times before satellite separation. The next burn will be after the first orbit. Satellite separation is planned for 2:01 GMT (10:01 pm EDT) on April 27.

22:29 GMT (6:26 pm EDT): The Fregat upper stage ignited.

22:25 GMT (6:25 pm EDT): Shut-down and separation of the second stage.

22:21 GMT (6:21 pm EDT): Main engine cutoff and separation of the core stage. The second stage ignited and will burn for about 4 minutes.

22:19 GMT (6:19 pm EDT): The payload fairing is jettisoned. As the rocket reached over 80 kilometers altitude and left the dense atmosphere, this cover is no longer needed.

22:18 GMT (6:18 pm EDT): The 4 strap-on boosters are burnt out and jettisioned.

22:16 GMT (6:16 pm EDT): Liftoff of the Soyuz carrying GIOVE-B.

22:15 GMT (6:15 pm EDT): T-1. Everything is ready for the launch of the Soyuz rocket.

22:10 GMT (6:10 pm EDT): T-6: Launch control is given to the automatic launch sequence.

22:01 GMT (6:01 pm EDT): 15 minutes remaining until the launch. Everything is currently on go.

21:31 GMT (5:31 pm EDT): The launch is 45 minutes away and the flight programme is loaded into the onboard computers.

19:16 GMT (3:16 pm EDT): 3 hours until launch. The fueling of the Soyuz rocket has begun.

April 26, 2008: The Soyuz rocket stands ready with the GIOVE-B navigation satellite on its launch pad in Baikonur.

GIOVE-B is the second evaluation satellite for the European navigation system Galileo.

On GIOVE-B, the Passive Hydrogen Maser technology in the atomic clock will make its debut in space. It is far more accurate and robust than the rubidium (Rb) technology used in previous navigation systems, and will therefore become an additional item of standard equipment on Galileo. The signal generator on GIOVE-B, the core element of the navigation payload, will immediately begin to transmit the full range of signals applicable to the overall system.

GIOVE-B serves as a reference and forms the link to the in-orbit validation (IOV) phase, in which Astrium as prime contractor is already building four further satellites. The IOV phase is a critical milestone in the set-up of the system, which will have a total of 30 navigation satellites and be fully operational by 2013.

The launch is scheduled for 22:16 GMT on April 26 (6:16 p.m. EDT).

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