GPS World

Tag: KARI

  • South Korean satellite uses navigation receiver from RUAG Space

    South Korean satellite uses navigation receiver from RUAG Space

    Photo: RUAG Space
    Photo: RUAG Space

    On March 20, a South Korean Earth Observation satellite will be sent to space, carrying a navigation receiver from RUAG Space to determine the satellite’s position in orbit. The Earth Observation satellite is being launched by the Korea Aerospace Research Institute (KARI), South Korea’s space agency.

    The precision single-frequency low Earth orbit GNSS receiver, called LEORIX, is a GPS + Galileo receiver from RUAG Space’s new generation of receivers.

    More than 80 RUAG Space receivers of the latest generation (LEORIX for Low Earth Orbit, GEORIX Geostationary Orbit and PODRIX) have been ordered by customers in Asia, Europe, Middle East and the United States. They will be launched for various low and geostationary Earth Orbit missions within the next few months and years.

    Currently, 22 navigation receivers from RUAG Space are in orbit. The satellite CAS-500-1 will be launched aboard a Russian Soyuz-2 launch vehicle from the spaceport in Baikonur, Kazakhstan.

    After the launch of CAS-500-1, South Korea plans to send the CAS500-2 satellite to space. A launch date of this second mission is not yet defined. The CAS500-2 mission also will fly with a LEORIX receiver from RUAG Space. The satellite builder — Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI) — already has received the space-borne navigation receiver.

    PODRIX in Space

    Since November 2020, two new Precise Orbit Determination Receivers (PODRIX) from RUAG Space have been in orbit. They determine the position of ocean-monitoring satellite Sentinel-6.

    The PODRIX GNSS spaceborne receiver achieves a very high, real-time in-orbit accuracy of the satellite’s position in orbit from below one meter to a few centimeters using on-ground post-processing. The high accuracy is achieved through simultaneously processing of multi-frequency signals from GPS and Galileo.

    PODRIX GNSS spaceborne receivers are built on the experience of the more than 20 GPS-only receivers of the RUAG Space legacy receiver generation now in orbit.

    The receivers precisely determine the position of a satellite once in orbit, which improves the satellite’s performance. Sentinel-6 measures the sea level on a global scale with unprecedented accuracy, which is crucial for climate change research. Every millimeter or centimeter in further precision highly improves the performance of the mission. The more precise the Sentinel-6 spaceborne GNSS receiver from RUAG Space works, the more precise are the data of this climate mission.

    RUAG Space is a supplier to the space industry in Europe, and has a growing presence in the United States. It develops and manufactures products for satellites and launch vehicles, playing a key role both in the institutional and commercial space market. RUAG Space is part of RUAG International, a Swiss technology group focusing on the aerospace industry.

  • South Korea, Thales to develop SBAS for aviation

    South Korea and France’s Thales Group will jointly develop an advanced Satellite-Based Augmentation System (SBAS) for GPS by 2021.

    The country’s state-run Korea Aerospace Research Institute (KARI) will sign a $40 million deal with Thales Group on Oct. 26, according to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport.

    The new SBAS, dubbed KASS (Korean Augmentation Satellite System), especially will help reduce errors in aviation GPS, which currently occur at a rate of one in 5 million and by up to 16 meters horizontally and 20 meters vertically.

    “By reducing the error and providing more accurate location of aircraft by using satellites, the SBAS is expected to help set the shortest air route possible while also helping reduce the cost of fuel for flights and thus expanding their capacities,” the ministry said in a press release.

    A separate agreement will be signed with the European Aviation Safety Agency to jointly verify the new GPS augmentation system following its development.

    KASS will rely on EGNOS (European Geostationary Navigation Overlay System) developed by Thales Alenia Space as prime contractor for the European Commission, with the European Space Agency (ESA) as contracting authority. The EGNOS system is operating in Europe since 2009 for Safety of Life services.

    South Korea will initially be using KASS to provide aeronautical applications, including Safety of Life services so that it can be used during different flight phases, especially landings. It will eventually extend these services to other applications, including maritime, road and rail.

    “Our first export success with this sophisticated and powerful navigation system is the upshot of Thales Alenia Space’s involvement with Europe’s satnav projects since the outset, in 1996,” said Jean Loïc Galle, president and CEO of Thales Alenia Space. “We are drawing on 20 years of experience to help the Korean space agency, and allow government bodies in the country to develop applications that will improve its people’s comfort and safety for all types of transportation.”

    Thales Alenia Space’s contract with KARI concerns the supply of the ground infrastructure. It will initially operate via a relay provided by an existing geostationary satellite, and it will be interoperable with other SBAS worldwide, which guarantee air traffic safety when planes move between different zones. KARI and Thales Alenia Space will be applying an approach based on partnership, which means that an integrated French-Korean team will be in charge of the project.