200805 May/June 2008

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May 12, 2008

Galileo’s GIOVE -B Spacecraft Transmits Signals

A screen in the Galileo control room displays the spectra of signals received from GIOVE-B shortly after the spacecraft began transmitting navigation signals. ESA photo.

Europe’s second Galileo In-Orbit Validation Element (GIOVE-B) satellite began transmitting navigation signals on May 7, including the common GPS-Galileo civil signal MBOC (multiplexed binary offset carrier).

Built under a cooperation between the European Space Agency (ESA) and European Union (EU), GIOVE-B was launched April 27 from the Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. The MBOC signal design will be used by the future GPS L1C broadcasts as well as the Galileo Open Service in accordance with an agreement drawn up in July 2007 between the EU and the United States.

Locked to an on-board passive hydrogen maser clock, the GIOVE-B signals will help improve positioning accuracy in challenging environments with multipath and interference as well as better penetration for indoor navigation.

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By Inside GNSS
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April 30, 2008

Galileo’s Drama: Different Set, Additional Actors, a New Play for Europe’s GNSS?

Passage of a new regulation on Galileo sets the stage for the next phase of the €3.4-billion satellite navigation system’s development under a public procurement but leaves many details to be worked out among the key players: the European Commission (EC), the European Council, the European Parliament, and the European Space Agency (ESA).

Meeting in Strasbourg, France, the parliament adopted the measure on April 22 with 607 votes in favor, 36 votes against, and 8 abstentions.

“Things are looking up, finally, for the European GNSS programs,” Paul Verhoef, head of the Galileo unit in the EC’s Directorate-General for Transport and Energy, told an April 23 plenary session of the European Navigation Conference 2008 in Toulouse, France.

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By Glen Gibbons
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