Global Navigation Satellite Systems Engineering, Policy, and Design
The European Commission cut its space budget for the next seven years but kept the Galileo and Copernicus satellite programs largely on track. The move came after intense negotiations over a 1.8-trillion-euro European Union budget seeking to absorb and remedy economic impacts of the coronavirus pandemic.
By Inside GNSS
The European Space Agency (ESA) has recently launched an internal initiative to cull ideas for supporting its member states in the study and analysis of the COVID-19 pandemic. Under this initiative ESAC’s Galileo Navigation Science Office has managed to get one of its ideas taken up under the name of the “COVID-19 Space Hunting Platform”.
By Inside GNSS
GPS keeps a digital twin sequestered in El Segundo, California. Galileo has an Earth-bound space vehicle in Noordwijk, the Netherlands, straining at its bonds, yearning to break free and fly with its brethren. Both constellation “ghosts” exist in an eerie testing twilight, being made to replicate the movements and reactions of their free-flying families. Their sacrifices could lead to better, more robust satellites in future generations.
By Alan Cameron
The European Space Agency (ESA) has preordered four additional Galileo launches on the new Ariane 6 rocket from Arianespace. Starting in January 2022, the launches will orbit eight satellites from Batch 3 to support the final deployment of the Galileo constellation and the replacement of certain satellites.
By Inside GNSS
European Space Agency (ESA) top brass welcomed journalists to the Agency’s headquarters in Paris for its annual New Year’s press launch. On hand was the Director General as well as ESA’s Galileo guru Paul Verhoef, who spoke one-on-one with Inside GNSS.
By Peter Gutierrez
The European GNSS Agency (GSA) has published the Q3 2019 performance report. This report covers the period when a technical incident caused by an equipment malfunction in Galileo last July resulted in a six-day interruption in Galileo navigation and timing services.
By Inside GNSS
I strode into the plenary session of the ION International Technical Meeting, primed and ready for a barrage of modernity, of out-in-front advances in precision positioning, navigation and timing. The first thing I saw was a 7-foot tall cesium beam tube, an early atomic clock from the 1950s.
By Alan Cameron
A new European Union Agency for the Space Program (EUSPA) will succeed and expand the current European GNSS Agency (GSA), which has been managing the EU’s Galileo satellite system for 15 years.
By Inside GNSS
Positioning with 5G next-generation cellular technology, based on higher bandwidths and frequencies, promises to open up new possibilities for localization services. As GNSS receivers share their position awareness across more powerful cellular networks, smart traffic management, asset tracking and personalized drone-based delivery will be just three examples of expanded capability. A European Space Agency (ESA)-sponsored test recently simulated this broadening PNT potential.
By Inside GNSS
Parachute safety solution manufacturer Drone Rescue Systems GmbH supports the European research project Formation flight for in-Air Launcher 1st stage Capturing demonstration (FALCon). Under the leadership of DLR, research is being conducted on how launch vehicles can be returned to the launch site as efficiently as possible for re-use.
By Inside GNSS
The second satellite to join the constellation that forms the European Data Relay System (EDRS) was launched by Arianespace on August 6, at 21:30 CEST (19:30 UTC). The satellite was launched on board an Ariane 5, together with a second passenger, Intelsat 39, from Europe’s Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana.
By Inside GNSS
Airbus has been selected by the European Space Agency (ESA) to build the European component of the SMILE satellite (Solar wind Magnetosphere Ionosphere Link Explorer). SMILE will be the first joint satellite mission between ESA and the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), following on from the success of the Double Star / Tan Ce mission which flew between 2003 and 2008.
By Inside GNSS
Galileo Initial Services have now been restored. Commercial users can already see signs of recovery of the Galileo navigation and timing services, although some fluctuations may be experienced until further notice, according to today’s statement from the European GNSS Agency (GSA).
By Inside GNSS
Our source inside the European GNSS Agency (GSA), which is the EU agency responsible for Galileo services, has told us: “They are working on it. Teams from industry and the Agencies are working 24/7 to restore the Galileo services as soon as possible to their nominal levels. The current estimation is that the services should be restored within 48 hours. In any case, we expect the service to be again nominal before the end of the weekend [13-14 July 2019],” the source said.
By Inside GNSS
Satellite navigation has become a global utility, but one that is vulnerable to interference. The European Space Agency’s new NAVISP research and development program is prioritizing research into countering jamming and spoofing of satnav signals, with partner companies exploring varied approaches.
By Inside GNSS
