ESA orders four more second-generation Galileo satellites, taking the fleet to 16

The European Space Agency (ESA) has ordered four more Galileo Second Generation (G2) satellites, bringing the planned second-generation fleet for Europe's satellite navigation system to 16. ESA announced the order on October 27, 2026. It extends the contracts of the two companies that have been building the first 12 G2 satellites, six each, since 2021: Thales Alenia Space in Italy and Airbus Defence and Space in Germany. Each will build two more. The contracts were signed on October 23 in Rome and on October 26 in Ottobrunn, Germany.

ESA signed on behalf of the EU Agency for the Space Programme (EUSPA), which provides Galileo's services, for the European Union, which owns the system. The European Commission manages and funds the program. ESA did not give the value of the new contracts.

The four satellites will be identical to the 12 already in development. They are scheduled for delivery in 2031, with launch to follow straight away.

These contracts represent an investment in Europe’s ability to navigate its own future, independently and with confidence.

Where the program stands

ESA says development and qualification of the first 12 satellites are nearly complete, and system integration and compatibility testing are under way. The second generation will join Galileo's 38 first-generation satellites, 34 of which have been launched, and the two generations are designed to operate as one system. The compatibility tests check that each satellite correctly receives and carries out commands from the ground, and that the ground segment can decode the satellite's status data. That ground segment is being developed by Thales Alenia Space, GMV and Thales SIX GTS with their industrial partners.

What G2 adds

According to ESA, the G2 satellites carry fully digital navigation payloads, a better-performing navigation antenna, links between satellites and an advanced atomic clock configuration, and they use electric propulsion. The agency says these will make Galileo's positioning, navigation and timing more robust and reliable. Galileo already serves billions of users, and every smartphone sold in the European single market is guaranteed to work with it.

New ground stations as well

On October 27, Indra Space signed two contracts with ESA, the European Commission and EUSPA covering new ground stations for the second-generation system, which ESA announced on October 28. One kind, sensor stations spread around the world, monitors the signals the satellites broadcast. The other, uplink stations, sends navigation messages from the control centers back up to the satellites.

The new sensor stations will move toward software-defined radio, which ESA says will make them easier to maintain and upgrade, and will add controlled reception pattern antennas to resist jamming and spoofing. The uplink stations will add phased-array antennas, which steer radio waves electronically, alongside traditional dishes. Both kinds will work with first- and second-generation satellites, and more units will be built and deployed at Galileo's ground sites around the world once the designs are qualified.

ESA presents both orders as a question of resilience. Jaffart said the satellite contracts are about safeguarding the continuity of Europe's navigation services and strengthening “Europe's strategic autonomy.”