EU’s Galileo satellites have actually been down for days

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The EU’s Galileo satellites have actually been struggling with technical issues.


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The European Union’s Galileo international navigation satellite system hasn’t worked considering that last Thursday. This is obviously due its ground facilities suffering technical issues. 

A service status page lists 24 of its 26 satellites as “not usable” or “not available,” while the staying 2 are “testing” — which our sibling website ZDNet reports implies they aren’t functional. Only the search and rescue service, which is utilized to discover individuals who get in difficulty at sea or in the mountains, is still running, the European GNSS Agency kept in mind.

“Experts are working to restore the situation as soon as possible,” the company composed in its release.

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The problem may lie with the Precise Timing Facility, a ground station in Italy that gives each satellite in the system an accurate time reference, Inside GNSS said.

The Galileo program launched its first satellite in 2011, so that the EU wouldn’t have to rely on the US Global Positioning System, or GPS, for commercial, military and other applications like guiding aircraft.

The agency didn’t immediately respond to a request for further comment.

First published at 2:42 a.m. PT.
Updated at 3:09 a.m. PT: Adds more detail.