Galileo IOV
Country: European Space Agency
Live Position
Ground Track · Last 90 Minutes
Upcoming Passes · Over Your Location
About This Satellite
GALILEO-PFM belongs to the first pair of Galileo In-Orbit Validation satellites, launched on October 21, 2011. These spacecraft helped demonstrate that a European navigation system could work as an integrated space-and-ground service. In-Orbit Validation, abbreviated IOV, meant testing the system design before completing the larger constellation.
Testing a system, not just a spacecraft
The four IOV satellites, launched in two pairs in 2011 and 2012, supported validation of both the space segment and ground infrastructure. The first Galileo-only ground position fix followed on March 12, 2013, at ESA's navigation laboratory in the Netherlands. That result depended on the group and its supporting infrastructure, not this satellite alone.
A milestone broadcast is not present-day availability
This record identifies one early Galileo spacecraft, while the service developed through many later launches and tests. A historical report that its transmitter worked cannot establish its current navigation usability. When interpreting this page, distinguish the dated mission milestones from the separately dated orbital snapshot.
Mission reference: ESA: Galileo in-orbit validation milestones. Editorial review: .
E1, E5, and E6 reached the test receivers
In December 2011, ESA reported simultaneous test transmissions across the first satellite's three assigned bands. Ground receivers at Redu and ESTEC checked the signals. These band labels describe different parts of the radio spectrum; they are not three spacecraft or three separate orbital paths.
Reference: ESA: first Galileo full-spectrum signal tests.
Why launch was not the start of public service
Galileo Initial Services began in December 2016, several years after the IOV launch. The intervening work included navigation-message generation and receiver tests across Europe. This timeline helps explain why catalog launch dates and service-start dates answer different questions, even for spacecraft built to participate in the same navigation system.
Reference: ESA: from validation to Initial Services.
Reading this orbital snapshot
Based on TLE epoch: 2026-09-02. Estimated altitude ranges from 23,221 km at perigee to 23,223 km at apogee, a difference of 3 km. The orbital period is about 844.7 minutes. Eccentricity 0.00005 indicates a nearly circular path. In a two-body approximation, perigee speed is 1.00 times apogee speed. These are mean-element estimates, not instantaneous measurements. Distance per orbit uses an ellipse approximation.
Saved build snapshot. If a valid TLE is retrieved, this explanation and the orbit panel update together. Otherwise this dated snapshot is retained.
Ground track is not sensor coverage
An inclination of 56.96 degrees implies approximate geocentric ground-track limits of 57.0 degrees north and south. This is a prograde orbit, moving in the same general direction as Earth rotation. The plotted line marks the point beneath the object. It does not represent camera coverage, radio reception, or a guaranteed visible pass.
Accuracy and missing information
The introductory record describes the build snapshot. The orbital snapshot explanation and orbit panel share any successfully retrieved TLE; check the displayed epoch. Reentered objects retain historical data only. Mission history is not rewritten by TLE updates. TLE/SGP4 positions are predictions and can change after maneuvers or updated observations. The 14-day stale-data cutoff is a display safeguard, not an accuracy guarantee. Local passes are geometric predictions, not a visibility forecast. No verified operator or mission status means unknown, not active. Do not use this catalog for collision avoidance or operational flight decisions.
Catalog sources: CelesTrak SATCAT: NORAD 37846 · GCAT: S37846 (source update 2026 Sep 4 2345:57). Supplementary metadata: SatNOGS DB, retrieved 2026-09-05T12:57:25.375Z. Page assembled 2026-09-15. GCAT phase codes describe trajectory phases, not mission health.
Learn more: TLE data · Perigee and apogee · Ground tracks · JOT (Jewawud Live Orbital Map)