Category: Galileo

GSA establishes Galileo Reference Centre to monitor performance
News from the European GNSS Agency

The Galileo Reference Centre (GRC), which will be established in the Netherlands, will play a crucial role in monitoring Galileo’s performance. The European GNSS Agency (GSA) made the announcement during this week’s European Space Solutions conference in The Hague.

With Galileo Initial Services set to be declared this year, the GRC will play a pivotal role in the programme’s operations, the GSA announced during the 4th European Space Solutions conference in The Hague.

The Galileo Reference Centre (GRC) will be established in Noordwijk, the Netherlands. The GRC’s core mission is to perform independent monitoring of Galileo’s performance and report on its findings.

GRC’s core facility in Noordwijk will also actively integrate contributions from the EU Member States Norway and Switzerland. The core facility is charged with generating performance evaluation products, reporting and performing dedicated campaign-based analyses. It will also rely on a range of facilities and expertise available in the Member States.

The GRC will be implemented using a versioning approach. The first step is expected to be in place at the time of declaration of Galileo Initial Services. The core facility is set to become operational in 2017.

“The use of space data is becoming more urgent and relevant in many areas, for example in maritime safety and smart mobility,” said Melanie Schultz van Haegen, Dutch Minister of Infrastructure and the Environment. “The Galileo Reference Centre will help ensure the provision of high quality satellite data so users can better rely on and benefit from Galileo.”

“When operational, the GRC will provide the GSA with an independent system to evaluate the performance of the Galileo Service Operator and the quality of the signals in space,” said GSA Executive Director Carlo des Dorides. Dorides and van Haegen were joined by Elżbieta Bieńkowska, European Commissioner for Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs, to officially sign the GRC hosting agreement during the conference’s opening session.

The GRC in Brief
- Galileo is Europe’s global navigation satellite system (GNSS), operated and maintained by the Galileo Service Operator, under contract with the European GNSS Agency (GSA).
- The Galileo Service Operator is responsible for ensuring that the programme complies with the Galileo Services performance requirements.
- The Galileo Reference Centre (GRC) is one of the Galileo Service Facilities: a facility to support the provision of services to the Galileo Core System and the Galileo users.
- The GRC is operated by the GSA: it provides the GSA with an independent means of evaluating the performance of the Galileo Service Operator and the quality of the signals in space.
- The GRC is fully independent of the system and the Galileo Service Operator with respect to both the technical solution and operations
- The GRC is comprised of both a core facility and contributions available at EU Member States, Norway and Switzerland.
- The core facility, located in Noordwijk (The Netherlands), is charged with:
  - generating performance evaluation products and reports using data collected by itself and through cooperation with Member States;
  - performing dedicated campaign-based analyses to support investigations of service performance and service degradations;
  - making use of the GRC’s own data, products and expertise.
- Data and products from cooperating entities from the Member States support both daily operations and specific campaigns.
- The GRC should benefit from but also contribute to maintaining the long term competences and expertise at the level of Member States.
- All of the components of the GRC will be implemented using a versioning approach. The first performance monitoring solution, which primarily relies on contributions from Member States, is expected to be in place at the time of declaration of Initial Services. The core facility is expected to become operational in 2017.
June 1, 2016
Iridium launches alternative GPS PNT service

Iridium Communications Inc. has introduced its Satellite Time and Location (STL) service, an alternative or complement to traditional indoor and outdoor location-based technologies, and declared it ready for use. STL’s position, navigation and timing (PNT) technology is deployed through Iridium’s 66 cross-linked, low-earth orbit satellite constellation.

Through Iridium satellites and in GNSS receivers, STL technology can work to verify GPS, GLONASS, Galileo and other navigation services, and also can serve as an alternative for those services when GPS signals are degraded or unavailable. STL also can provide an alternative source of time when testing GPS signals.

Iridium is working with Satelles, a division of iKare Corporation, as its primary technology partner. Satelles enables Iridium’s paging channels to reach small, low-cost receivers in nearly any environment, the company says in a news release.

“We think STL can help solve an important and growing problem for governments and businesses, and serve as a platform for continued innovation,” says Matt Desch, chief executive officer at Iridium. “With STL, we are introducing a global capability that is already in space, technologically ready for use and is independent of any particular location technology. The team at Satelles has been able to leverage the unique capabilities that our network offers to create a solution that can ultimately be integrated into almost any kind of platform, including other Iridium machine-to-machine devices, heavy machinery, automobiles and even the power grid, to name a few. Once implemented, STL could revolutionize the way the world’s largest, global companies and governments operate and manage cyber security.”

In a chipset about the size of a postage stamp, the technology can be embedded into many devices. STL’s signal strength may make spoofing GPS systems more difficult, the company says. STL transmits its signals through Iridium’s satellite constellation to deliver a unique code to each position on the ground that can be independently authenticated, which allows operation or access only if the user is in the location expected.

“Commercial users are now able to use STL to deliver trustworthy timing solutions for critical infrastructure, such as LTE networks, transactional data centers and the power grid,” says Greg Gutt, president and chief technology officer of Satelles. “Military and government users can also acquire these commercial off-the-shelf solutions for the Department of Defense and other government applications. In addition to enhancing the security and resiliency of GPS, STL technology can be embedded into servers anywhere in the world to geo-fence data and applications, providing trusted time and location data as an independent factor for end-point authentication.”

The STL solution has been successfully demonstrated across multiple sectors, including military, academia and commercial applications. The technology is available today and will be supported by Iridium NEXT, the Iridium’s next-generation global satellite constellation, which is scheduled for completion by late 2017, the company says.

May 23, 2016
Galileo satellites 13 and 14 prepare for launch

Another pair of Galileo navigation satellites is scheduled for launch by a Soyuz rocket on May 24 from Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana, bringing the Galileo system a step closer to operational use.

This video gives an overview of Galileo and shows Galileo 13 and 14 in preparation in Kourou. It includes an interview with Paul Verhoef, ESA director of the Galileo Programme and navigation-related activities.

The European Commission asked the European Space Agency (ESA) to speed up the deployment of the constellation and to increase it’s robustness for delivering initial services, according to ESA.

A total of 12 satellites has been deployed into orbit during the last four years — six in the last year alone.

Learn more about the launch here.

May 18, 2016
Payload integration begins next Galileo launch

The first of two Galileo navigation satellites to be orbited on Arianespace’s May 24 Soyuz flight has been integrated on its payload dispenser system, marking a key step as preparations advance for this medium-lift mission from French Guiana.

Named “Danielė,” the Galileo 13 spacecraft was installed this week during activity inside the Spaceport’s S3B payload preparation facility. It is to be joined on the dispenser system by the mission’s other passenger, “Alizée” or Galileo 14, whose own installation is forthcoming, in a side-by-side arrangement.

The pair — each named after children who won a European Commission-organized painting competition in 2011 — are then to be mated atop Soyuz’ Fregat upper stage and encapsulated in the protective payload fairing. Prime contractor OHB System in Bremen, Germany produced the satellites, and their onboard payloads are supplied by UK-based Surrey Satellite Technology Limited (SSTL) – which is 99-percent owned by Airbus Defence and Space.

The Galileo FOC satellite “Danielė” is moved into position, then integrated on its payload dispenser at the Spaceport’s S3B payload preparation facility. (Photo: Arianespace)

“Danielė” and “Alizée” will become the 13th and 14th FOC (Full Operational Capability) spacecraft to join Europe’s Galileo navigation system, which was conceived to provide high-quality positioning, navigation and timing services under civilian control. Its FOC phase is managed and funded by the European Commission, with the European Space Agency (ESA) delegated as the design and procurement agent on the Commission’s behalf.

The May 24 flight is designated Flight VS15, and will be performed from the purpose-built ELS launch complex at Europe’s Spaceport. Arianespace’s Soyuz will carry out a nearly 3-hour, 48-minute mission to place its Galileo passengers into a targeted circular orbit at an altitude of 23,522 kilometers, inclined 57.394 degrees to the equator. Total payload lift performance is estimated at 1,599 kg.

May 16, 2016
Galileo 13 satellite fueled for May 24 lift-off

Preparations for Arianespace’s upcoming mission have moved into the fueling phase for the next two Galileo navigation satellites, Galileo 13 and 14. The satellites will be sent into orbit by a medium-lift Soyuz on May 24 from the Spaceport in French Guiana.

Galileo 13 is fueled at the Spaceport for Arianespace’s May 24 mission with Soyuz.

As part of the process, the 13th in the series of Full Operational Capability (FOC) Galileo platforms (Galileo-FOC FM10) has been “topped off” in the Spaceport’s S3B payload preparation facility.

Galileo 13 is named for Lithuanian student Danielė — continuing the practice of designating Galileo spacecraft after youngsters who created space and aeronautics-related drawings that were selected by national juries in European Union member states.

Galileo’s FOC phase is funded and managed by the European Commission, which has designated the European Space Agency as the system’s design and procurement agent. Prime contractor OHB System in Bremen, Germany, produces the Galileo FOC satellites.

This month’s dual Galileo payload mission is designated Flight VS15 in Arianespace’s launcher family numbering system. It will be the 15th liftoff of the workhorse launcher from French Guiana since Soyuz’ introduction at the Spaceport in 2011.

Flight VS15 is one of up to 12 Arianespace missions targeted for 2016 with the company’s launcher family of the medium-lift Soyuz, heavy-lift Ariane 5 and lightweight Vega. So far this year, Arianespace has performed three launches: two with Ariane 5, and one utilizing Soyuz.

May 10, 2016
GSA: 40 percent of GNSS receivers are Galileo-ready
60 percent support two or more constellations

Chipset and receiver manufacturers are already equipping their devices with multi-constellation capabilities, including Galileo, and taking advantage of available services, according to a new analysis by the European GNSS Agency (GSA).

The study examines the global top 31 companies and reviews publicly available technical documentation on their product portfolios, for more than 300 receivers, chipsets and modules available on the market. The parameters researched included such technical specifications as GNSS core constellation capabilities, space-based augmentation system (SBAS) capabilities and the market segments to which the manufacturers sell their products.

Each device is given equal weight in the results displayed here, regardless of whether it is a chipset or a receiver and no matter what its sales volume. The results should therefore be interpreted not as the distribution of constellations utilized by end-users, but rather the distribution of constellations available in a manufacturer’s offerings. Because some receiver models are used in more than one market segment, it is impossible to have a direct match between general analysis charts and segment charts.

Figure 1 shows the percentage of available receivers capable of tracking the various constellations. GPS is naturally present in all devices, followed by GLONASS. Galileo and BeiDou are progressively adopted by leading manufacturers.

Figure 1. Capability of GNSS receivers, all Segments.

Figure 2 shows the percentage of available receivers capable of tracking signals from one GNSS (that is, GPS only), two GNSS (in various combinations), three GNSS, or tracking signals from all constellations at the same time. The percentages add up to 100.

Figure 2. Supported constellation by receivers, all segments.

From this information, the GSA concludes that almost 60 percent of all available receivers, chipset and modules support a minimum of two constellations. Of these, nearly 40 percent are Galileo compatible. Furthermore, knowing that the top three providers of smartphone chips are on track to be Galileo compatible by the time Initial Services are declared later this year, the actual market share — this time taking into account the number of devices — is likely to be much higher than the 40 percent of Galileo-compatible models. The GSA states that this shows a multi-constellation capability including Galileo is becoming a standard feature across all market segments.

Market segments

Breaking down this level of Galileo compatibility further, the GSA found variations across different market sectors. In the high-precision market, used primarily for surveying and agriculture applications, all the leading brands have integrated Galileo into their products.

For example, in 2008 Septentrio launched a fully integrated industrial Galileo-capable GNSS receiver, followed 1.5 years later by a multi-frequency multi-constellation OEM platform for machine control and survey applications built on a new, Galileo-capable application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) tracking all Galileo signals and frequencies, called AsteRx3. Likewise, Javad GNSS‘ Triumph receivers track all satellite systems, including Galileo. Other companies in the high-precision market who have integrated Galileo into their products include NovAtel, Furuno, Leica Geosystems, ComNav, Trimble and Topcon.

Looking toward automotive and mass-market products in general, the integration of Galileo within the hardware is complete, although activation tends to remain pending, depending on the request of customer. Most companies serving this sector — including u-blox, STMicroelectronics, Broadcom, Qualcomm, Intel and Mediatek — have announced products that are Galileo-capable.

In regulated transport systems where safety and liability critical applications are key (for example, aviation, maritime and rail), the integration of Galileo signals tends to be slower. This is the result of integration being dependent on the updating of necessary standards and regulations, on top of the very long lifespan of these devices.

Supporting integration

To further increase the level of Galileo integration in all three of these market sectors, the GSA continues to work directly with chipset and receiver manufacturers, through technology workshops, sharing Galileo updates, co-marketing efforts, and dedicated funding for receiver development projects and studies.

The GSA also coordinated a comprehensive testing program in cooperation with the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre and the European Space Agency (ESA). Over the past year, hundreds of tests and live in-field testing hours were conducted, verifying how different models integrate Galileo signals. This information allows manufacturers to update their technology and get the most out of the system’s increased accuracy and reliability within a multi-constellation environment.

The GSA also launched its Fundamental Elements program, a research and development funding mechanism supporting the development of chipsets and receivers. The program will run through 2020 and has a projected budget of 111.5 million euros. Its main objective is to facilitate the development of applications across different sectors of the economy and promote the development of such fundamental elements as Galileo-enabled chipsets and receivers.

The European Union’s Horizon 2020 research program, which aims to foster adoption of Galileo via content and application development, focuses on the integration of services provided by Galileo into devices and their commercialization. The Horizon 2020 third call for applications in satellite navigation-Galileo will open in November 2016, with a March 2017 deadline.

With a budget of approximately 100 million euros for the 2014–2020 period dedicated to Europoean GNSS applications, the program provides excellent opportunities for their development. The third call addresses concrete solutions and applications in the GNSS market and aims to support innovative applications, products, feasibility studies and market tests that have a substantial impact on European innovation, know-how and economy.

New ICD. The European Commission has published a new release of the Galileo Open Service Signal in Space Interface Control Document (OS SIS ICD v1.2). This document provides the information needed by receiver and chipset manufacturers, application developers and service providers to process and make use of the open signals generated by the Galileo satellites. In particular, the document specifies:
- Galileo signal characteristics
- characteristics of Galileo spreading codes
- Galileo message structure
- message data contents.
This latest version of the ICD is based on direct feedback from receiver manufacturers and other stakeholders.

The GSA is well advanced in developing the European GNSS Service Centre (GSC), which provides the single interface for information and help to users of the Galileo OS. Once fully developed, the GSC will operate on a 24/7 basis and offer a range of services, including hosting the Galileo User Helpdesk, providing the interfaces between the Galileo System and OS users, and hosting a center of expertise for OS service aspects.

“The analysis, testing, funding and knowledge sharing are all geared towards promoting the development of receiver technology — the key enabler for translating Galileo signals into useful services,” said Carlo des Dorides, GSA executive director. “As a result of this work, the GSA has paved the way for Galileo to be fully integrated into a new generation of receivers, and ensured its signals provide a wide array of innovative applications and services that directly benefit the end-user.”

Galileo Services, an industry consortium, offered this further perspective on the study. “We see that there is a strong interest from European industry to provide solutions for European GNSS applications globally,” said Gard Ueland, chairman. “An increased focus from European institutions leaves us optimistic for an increased presence of European players in the future. Notably, we see members of Galileo Services and OREGIN that already have or are developing receivers for a broad range of applications, in particular building on Galileo differentiators.”
May 9, 2016
System of Systems: OCX passes first qualification

OCX Passes First Qualification

Raytheon, US Air Force Complete Test Milestone

On March 4, Raytheon successfully passed the first formal qualification test milestone for the U.S. Air Force’s GPS Next Generation Operational Control System (GPS OCX). The new system offers significant improvements to the GPS on which the U.S. military and millions of civilians rely, including enhanced availability, accuracy and security.

The event was the Configuration Item Qualification Test (CIQT) milestone for the Launch and Checkout System (LCS). The system provides launch and early orbit checkout capabilities for the modernized GPS III satellites and implements 77 percent of the cybersecurity capabilities for the overall OCX program. The testing was successfully conducted in a representative operational environment with a government-provided GPS III satellite simulator.

The LCS CIQT Run-for-Record was completed more than one month ahead of the plan established in mid-2015, clearing the way for LCS to proceed toward the Factory Qualification Test, the next major qualification event. The FQT test will be at the integrated system level and will take place this summer.

GPS OCX is being developed by Raytheon under contract to the U.S. Air Force Space and Missile Systems Center, which is replacing the current GPS operational control system. The OCX Launch and Checkout System provides an early delivery of a large subset of the overall OCX capability, and will support the GPS III satellite launches.

Congressmen Seek Delay to NDGPS Closings

Four U.S. congressman sent a letter to the Department of Transportation, asking the DoT to delay shutting down Nationwide Differential GPS (NDGPS) sites, a proposal that was posted in the Federal Register.

The congressmen are asking for a delay until the “administration has decided upon and implemented a resilient national positioning, navigation and timing (PNT) architecture.”

“We do not dispute,” they wrote, “the administration’s determination that NDGPS is sufficiently like the Wide Area Augmentation system (WAAS) in its phenomenology and services such that it provides only an incremental benefit to the nation’s PNT architecture. However, some or all of the 62 NDGPS sites (and associated equipment) proposed for elimination could play an important role in achieving the PNT architecture America needs.

“Ceasing transmissions, decommissioning, and disposing of them before we are assured they are not useful to future systems is against our national interest and would not be the best use of government assets and funds.”

Signers were John Garamendi of California, Peter DeFazio of Oregon, Frank Lobiondo of New Jersey, and Walter B. Jones of North Carolina. Read the full text of the letter.

IRNSS Completing

At press time, India was expected to put into orbit its seventh and final navigation satellite on April 28, thus completing the Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS).

IRNSS-1G is expected to launch aboard a Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) rocket from India’s spaceport at Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh.

IRNSS is designed to provide accurate position information service to users across the country and region, up to an area of 1,500 kilometers.

Jamming on the Borderline

South Korea issued a warning in late March after detecting satellite signal disruptions that appeared to be coming from North Korea. The capital city of Seoul appeared to be the target.

Officials said North Korea discharged a large amount of radio waves to jam GPS signals in the region.

“We’ve detected signs that North Korea has been sending radio waves to the capital area since a month ago to disrupt GPS signals,” a senior government official said, speaking on condition of anonymity. “North Korea had been sending test waves since last month, but today, they discharged the largest amount.”

The disruptions could cause mobile phones to malfunction and affect planes and ships that rely on GPS for navigation. No damage has so far been reported in the military or among civilians, officials said.

Since 2010, GPS disruptions have occurred three times in South Korea, and all have been blamed on the North.

Southern Counter. On April 7, the U.S. State Department confirmed the jamming in a public communique, stating the the jamming was causing signal disruptions to airplanes, ships, and buoys in the area “surrounding Gyeonggi and Gangwon provinces out to about 100 nautical miles.” On April 8, the South Korean government said it would “beef up its system to protect GPS signals” but did not explain how.

South Korea is developing an eLoran system, which would be far more difficult to jam than GPS.

A Long March-3A carrier rocket carrying the 22nd BeiDou satellite lifts off March 30.

22 BeiDou

China launched the 22nd BeiDou satellite into orbit on March 29. BeiDou-22 (or BeiDou-2 I6) was launched at 20:11 UTC (4:11 local time) by a Long March-3A rocket from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center.

China launched the 21st BeiDou satellite on Feb. 1, the second in a series of BeiDou launches scheduled for 2016. The BeiDou constellation is planned to be completed in 2020.

The new satellite, the sixth BeiDou-2 IGSO, will be used to replenish the current operating regional system.

The satellite, after entering its designed work orbit and finishing in-orbit testing, will join others already in orbit and improve the stability of the system, preparing for BDS to offer global coverage.

After landing in French Guiana, the 13th and 14th Galileo satellites, still within their canisters, were unloaded to be taken by road to the Guiana Space Centre. (Photo: ESA)

Next Pair Prepped for Galileo

The latest pair of navigation satellites has reached Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana, according to the European Space Agency (ESA). This starts a new Galileo launch campaign that will culminate in a May 24 launch of the 13th and 14th satellites in the constellation.

A second launch is planned for this fall, with four satellites carried aloft on a customized Ariane 5 for the first time, bringing the count to 18 Galileo satellites in orbit by the end of the year.

The pair of satellites left ESA’s technical centre in Noordwijk, the Netherlands, on April 4, cocooned within protective air-conditioned containers. They were then driven to Luxembourg Airport, where they were loaded aboard a Boeing 747 cargo jet for a dawn takeoff the following morning.

The satellites touched down at Cayenne — Félix Eboué Airport in French Guiana at 11:15 a.m. local time on Tuesday. Still within their canisters, they were driven to the Guiana Space Centre and unboxed that evening within the cleanroom environment of the centre’s S1A payload preparation building. A fit check is scheduled next, to ensure the satellites can be attached to the dispenser.

ESNC 2016

The largest international competition for the commercial use of satellite navigation once again seeks outstanding ideas and business models, with prizes worth a total of €1 million in more than 25 categories.

The deadline for submissions to the European Satellite Navigation Competition (ESNC) is June 30. The official website provides all relevant information on prizes, partners, and terms of participation. The ESNC is geared toward individuals and teams from companies, research facilities and universities around the world.

May 1, 2016
GNSS has bad days, too

(courtesy UrsaNav)

“Even the best technology has a bad day,” Charles Schue told the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), which relies very heavily on the best technology to keep the world’s financial edifice afloat. Vulnerabilities in the stock market were pointed up during a demonstration on April 19, showcasing how one positioning, navigation and timing (PNT) system can cover the chinks in another. Respectively, eLoran and GPS in this case.

Schue is CEO of UrsaNav, a company that has been developing complementary PNT solutions, specifically the high-power, low-frequency (LF), ground-wave technology that is eLoran, which UrsaNav calls “the most reliable, scalable, and future-proof available.” Schue spoke at the NYSE along with representatives from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the U.S. Coast Guard, Juniper Networks and Harris Corporation.

“2014 was a very bad year for GNSS,” Schue continued, citing the GLONASS full-system outage for 11 hours and Galileo’s wrong-orbit launch of two satellites. “This year, GPS, the gold standard, had an ‘oops’ and slipped from gold to silver, when one satellite kind of wigged out, a 13.7 microsecond error that contaminated 15 other satellites.” He ran a simulation that showed how, at one point, six GPS satellites were communicating bad timing to the Eastern seaboard, where the NYSE is located.

2016 has also seen renewed GPS jamming from North Korea.

The stock exchange, along with other global financial markets, relies on microsecond timing to properly execute all transactions. The U.S. air traffic management system likewise relies on high-precision aspects of GPS that are vulnerable to interference, jamming, and even occasional system failure. Many other industries, telecommunications principally among them, are also building infrastructures and applications that rely on GPS for precise timing, thus making them vulnerable as well.

One Back-Up Transmitter in Place

An eLoran transmitter in Wildwood, New Jersey, relies on three primary reference standards, three atomic clocks, just as each GPS satellite carries three or four atomic clocks. “The signals coming from space, the signals coming from ground, they’re very similar.” ELoran also has monitoring and control sites on the ground, just like the satellite system; it has differential reference stations, and of course eLoran receivers, playing the same role as GPS receivers.

Schue asserted that the cost of launching one GPS satellite into space would fund an eLoran system for the continental United States for 20 years. Also, that a lot of industries in addition to the financial community are building infrastructures and applications that rely on GPS for precise timing, and so are equally vulnerable.

The eLoran demonstration showed how the Wildwood station sent a timing signal 130 miles to the NYSE, deep within several urban canyons and enveloped in several layers of concrete, steel and glass. A GPS receiver in the room did not pick up anything. The eLoran receiver showed precise time, to the standard of NYSE requirements.

Equipment utilized included a Spectracom SecureSync providing time to the network, once it received it from eLoran.

On a screen display showing plus or minus 500 nanoseconds relative to Coordinated Universal Time, “that red line is us receiving eLoran timing at that antenna, 130 miles away, through the urban canyons, inside this building, right now at minus 14 nanoseconds.” The eLoran equipment transmitted and received two signals, with a data channel on one of the signals. “We could put the data channel on both signals, and we could put multiple data channels on both on there as well.”

Schue said another demo inside a downtown Boston hotel, 305 miles from the New Jersey transmitter, obtained 83-nanosecond accuracy. A 2015 test to an outdoor receiver in Bangor, Maine, 500 miles from the transmitter, logged 68-nanosecond accuracy.

Plus or minus 100 nanoseconds is the typical GPS performance. “We can do far better, and GPS often does far better than that.”

Initial operating capability for a wide-area eLoran service providing precise time for the continental United States would require four transmitter sites across the middle of the country. The corporate and government partners hope to use some repurposed Loran-C assets and turn them into eLoran stations. Wildwood is transmitting at 360 kilowatts; if transmitting at 1 million watts, or 1 megawatt, the signal could penetrate even further inside buildings. The cost difference between the two powers of transmitter is not significant.

Bringing six more continental eLoran transmitter sites online, for a total of ten, would add a back-up positioning capability in addition to timing. “This is very important, because with positioning, you get mobile time — a co-primary solution for position, navigation, and timing.”

Using a differential receiver would yield even better local-area accuracy for about 35 miles around a selected site, for high-priority locations. Such a higher-precision system for the nation’s top 50 metropolitan areas, top 50 airports, and top 50 harbors could be accomplished with 71 differential sites.

Concurrence from Government and Other Industry Partners

Spokespersons from the DHS, Coast Guard, Juniper Networks and Harris Corporation preceded Schue at the NYSE presentation, all giving similar perspectives on U.S. vulnerability in many aspects, due to reliance on GPS as a sole, unsupported source of precision PNT. “Of the 16 critical infrastructure / key resource sectors in the United States, 15 use GPS for timing. GPS timing is deemed essential for 11 of these sectors,” stressed DHS.

April 27, 2016
ESNC 2016 opens submissions for Galileo-enabled applications

The European Satellite Navigation Competition (ESNC) — the largest international competition for the commercial use of satellite navigation — is once again looking for outstanding ideas and business models. Renowned institutions and regional partners are set to award prizes worth a total of €1 million in more than 25 categories.

The deadline for submissions is June 30.

“In our modern, data-driven economy, satellite navigation is a crucial technology that facilitates constant and reliable object localisation — the bedrock of the Internet of Things,” states an ESNC press release. “Since 2004, the ESNC has evolved into a leading fixture in the New Space Economy by provided a public innovation platform for turning promising ideas into market-ready products.

“Each year, the competition unveils new trends and more than 500 business ideas. It has already awarded prizes to more than 270 winners over the years, which represent just a fraction of the nearly 3,500 innovative concepts submitted by over 10,000 total participants.

“Through a one-of-a-kind network that includes the ESA Business Incubation Centres and other incubators across Europe, the ESNC plays a decisive role in the realization of these ideas by supporting the foundation of startups and creating high-tech jobs.”

The unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) trend has also emerged in the ideas submitted to the ESNC, which selected a drone application — Poseidron — as its overall winner for the first time in 2015. Developed by the Spanish startup Sincratech Aeronautics, this multicopter is equipped with infrared cameras and uses the European positioning service EGNOS to save lives at sea.

The Poseidron concept UAV.

This year’s winners will take home prizes worth a total of €1 million and be welcomed into the ESNC’s leading innovation network for global satellite navigation systems. Along with cash, the various prize categories on offer primarily include technical, business-related, and legal support in realising the winning business models.

A jury of international experts from the realms of research and industry will also evaluate the winners of all the categories to select an overall winner, who will be revealed at the annual awards ceremony.

Those who enter the ESNC also stand to benefit greatly from the opportunity to work closely with leading institutions and regional partners. The ESNC is geared towards individuals and teams from companies, research facilities, and universities around the world. Those interested can enter the competition from 1 April to 30 June 2016 at www.esnc.eu.

In ESNC 2016, prizes are sponsored by the following partner regions and institutions: the European Space Agency (ESA), the German Aerospace Center (DLR), the German Federal Ministry of Transport and Digital Infrastructure (BMVI), and the Horizon 2020 project BELS. Prototypes can also be entered into the GNSS Living Lab Challenge.

The University Challenge, meanwhile, is explicitly designed for students and university research assistants. This year’s confirmed partner regions are: Asia, Austria, Baden-Württemberg, Bavaria, the Czech Republic, Flanders, France, Galicia, Hesse, Ireland, Israel, Lithuania, Madrid, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Romania, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and Valencia.

The official website offers all the relevant information on the prizes, partners, and terms of participation involved in the ESNC.

ESNC and Copernicus Masters Info Day is scheduled for June 2 at the European Space Solutions conference in The Hague. Those interested will also have further opportunities to meet the ESNC’s organisers and their partners at numerous regional kickoff events across Europe in April and May.

April 4, 2016
Ground-based Galileo satellite joins post-launch dress rehearsal

News from the European Space Agency

The navigation satellite set to become the 16th in the Galileo constellation has been taken through a Europe-wide rehearsal for its launch and early operations in space.

Sitting in the cleanroom environment of ESA’s ESTEC technology centre in Noordwijk, the Netherlands, the satellite was last week linked to a trio of sites across the continent: the Galileo control centres in Fucino, Italy and Oberpfaffenhofen, Germany, as well as ESA’s ESOC operations centre in Darmstadt, Germany.

Galileo’s Ground Control Segment (GCS) in the Oberpfaffenhofen Control Centre in Germany is in charge of overseeing the performance of the Galileo satellites. (Photo: ESA)

“These System Compatibility Test Campaigns (STSCs) occur on a regular basis,” explained Liviu Stefanov, lead Flight Operations Director for the next Galileo launch in May. “Last December saw a campaign using one of the two Galileo satellites due to be launched in May, while our February rehearsal used another satellite from the quadruplet being launched by Ariane 5 later this year. So with this most recent task, we have reached a frequency of three system tests in less than four months.”

A joint team from ESA and France’s CNES space agency oversee Galileo’s Launch and Early Operations Phase (LEOP) – the initial switching on and checking and configuration of satellite systems. LEOP is run from either ESOC or CNES Toulouse, on an alternating basis.

ESOC will host the LEOP team for the next launch of two Galileo satellites by Soyuz from French Guiana in May. Then the team will switch to Toulouse for the first launch of four Galileo satellites by Ariane 5, scheduled for this autumn.

Members of the joint Galileo Launch and Early Operations Phase (LEOP) team at work in CNES Toulouse. A joint team from ESA and France’s CNES space agency oversee Galileo LEOPs – the initial switching on and checking and configuration of satellite systems. LEOP is run from either ESOC or CNES Toulouse, on an alternating basis. (Photo: ESA)

Liviu added: “From our point of view, this SCTC was a useful final opportunity to try out communications with a satellite that is actually due to fly, before our next Galileo LEOP takes place for real.
“It is the last end-to-end test of the ground segment with a real satellite before the launch.”

“Communicating with and controlling satellites still on the ground is one of the essential exercises the LEOP team has to perform before launch,” said Christelle Crozat, lead Spacecraft Operations Manager for the next LEOP.

“It is an opportunity to test and validate the operational products with a satellite to identify and correct any issues of compatibility with the real hardware while the satellite is still ‘on Earth’. It is always a thrill for the operational engineers to interact with the satellite instead of the simulator.”

Money spent by European taxpayers on spacecraft operations represents an excellent investment in infrastructure and in high-tech, value-added jobs, with strong benefits flowing back to ESA Member State citizens. (Photo: ESA)

In practice, LEOP encapsulates crucial activities such as separation from the rocket’s upper stage, deployment of solar wings and first attitude acquisition, followed by the gradual configuration of the platform system for orbit manoeuvres and the mission to follow.

ESOC and CNES Toulouse both host their own functionally identical LEOP control centre. New Galileo satellites are launched on a regular basis: bringing them to life is demanding. Pooling this crucial responsibility between two agencies and two locations adds efficiency, delivering greater flexibility and redundancy.

“This efficiency has been demonstrated by the three successful LEOPs conducted over the course of last year, in March, September and December,” stressed Hervé Côme, Galileo LEOP Service Manager.
“It is also shown by the capability of CNES/ESOC to support the introduction of one additional Soyuz LEOP on a relatively short four-month notice, for this May.”

Once each LEOP is completed, control of the satellite platform is passed to the Oberpfaffenhofen control centre, with Fucino overseeing the navigation payloads and the positioning services they enable.

Galileo’s Ground Mission Segment in the Fucino Control Centre in Italy oversees Galileo navigation services and satellite payload operations. (Photo: ESA)

March 29, 2016
Europe enters ‘The Year of Galileo’

2016 has already been dubbed as “The Year of Galileo.” That was the clear message from the Munich Satellite Navigation Summit in early March. The Munich summit covers all GNSS systems, but the focus this year was squarely on Galileo.

I think it is fair to say that come hell or high water we will see Galileo Initial Services debuting in October 2016. Representatives from all parties to the Galileo initiative – the European Commission, ESA and GSA – stressed the importance of getting those first services in place.

12 satellites currently in orbit (despite one being definitely broken and two in sub-optimal orbits) will be sufficient to deliver the service, and this will not depend on any of the six satellites to be launched during 2016. Extensive system testing will take place during the spring and summer to ensure all is ready.

The Munich Satellite Navigation Summit 2016

Watching the traditional high-level opening plenary session in Munich’s marvellous Allerheiligen-Hofkirche (Court Church of All Saints), it is clear that a more collaborative era has entered the European GNSS scene. The body language of the various European parties on stage was so much more relaxed than at previous summits. For me this is the good news that Johann-Dietrich “Jan” Woerner has brought as the new Director General of ESA.

The working title of this 13^th Munich Summit was “GNSS — creating a global village” but the focus was squarely on Galileo. From the European Commission, Pierre Delsaux thanked Jan Woerner for shuffling the ESA launch schedule to enable the extra Soyuz launch for two Galileo satellites in May and anticipated global coverage by 2020. He also emphasized the need to show value for EU taxpayers and unleash space-based services, new applications and jobs for global citizens. It was also confirmed that Galileo launches were now insured.

Deliver, deliver, deliver

Jan Woerner himself praised the collaboration with the Commission, saying during the panel discussion that there was “no power struggle at all.” He said that the Director General of the Commission’s DG GROWTH, Lowri Evans, had the motto: “Don’t discuss: deliver, deliver, deliver.” He agreed that the roles of the various players needed refinement but this should never be to the detriment of the Galileo programme.

Carlo des Dorides, Executive Director of the GSA, was also optimistic. He said GSA is now taking its full place in the GNSS world. He focused on what Galileo will bring to the Internet of Things (IoT), and digital infrastructure in general, and emphasised the better accuracy and availability of the European GNSS, especially in urban-canyon environments, and also its proposed authenticated open signal. “The (Galileo) revolution is an appointment that cannot be missed for success in digital infrastructure,” he concluded.

Higher levels of authentication and trust that are to be provided by Galileo signals give the appearance of a distinct market differentiator for the system. Most importantly, one that the market and applications in mobility, finance and the IoT want to see.

The Jewel in the Crown

Later in the summit Imogen Ormerod, Head of Galileo Policy at the UK Space Agency, described the Galileo Public Regulated Service (PRS) as the “Jewel in Galileo’s crown.” insisting that PRS was unique and that the ability to have confidence in the signal would be ground-breaking. Done right, PRS has “unique and unchallenged commercial potential,” she concluded.

As provision of authentication is clearly not on the civil GPS horizon at the moment, “unchallenged” appears to be the appropriate word.

During a session on authentication, Harold “Stormy” Martin, Director of the National Coordination Office for Space-Based Positioning, Navigation, and Timing in Washington, stated that the United States has no plans for civil authentication in the current-generation GPS satellites or in GPS III. However, he said the U.S. was interested in EU developments and would continue to explore possibilities for future.

Next Generation

Paul Flament, Head of Unit for Galileo and EGNOS – Programme Management at the European Commission issued further warm feelings for Galileo on the Wednesday morning. His update on Galileo status confirmed the news hinted previously that the two Galileo satellites delivered into the wrong orbits will be used for the Galileo Search and Rescue function and would probably also be available for the Open Service. Testing with receiver manufacturers has already shown that their signals are compatible.

He also talked about the new tender for eight further satellites that has been issued by the Commission. This would procure the four extra satellites now needed to reach a 30-satellite constellation and four for spare. The winning bidder could be known by September and definitely by the end of the year.

Commission rules require that a contract of this size must be put out to tender, but as the satellite specification is pretty much identical to that now being successfully rolled off the OHB production line, it would be bizarre — although not beyond the mystery that is EU space politics — for the tender to be awarded anywhere else.

The GSA competition to select the operator of Galileo services will also be known by the end of 2016. Consultation on what will be required for the second generation of Galileo FOC satellites beyond 2020, perhaps with an emphasis on cost reduction, will open sometime this year.

EGNOS over Africa

The potential extension of the European SBAS EGNOS over Africa was discussed in a session that emphasised the global village dimension of GNSS. Julien Lapie from the Agency for Aerial Navigation Safety in Africa and Madagascar (ASECNA), based in Dakar, gave an update on the programme that is looking to establish a cooperative management system of a single sky of over 16.1 million square kilometres — around 50 percent larger than Europe.

ASENCA is developing a programme and resources for deployment of EGNOS in Africa with the objective of African ownership of the infrastructure, control and provision of a signal-in-space and autonomous provision of services to users. A first step was to provide early EGNOS-based services by 2019/20, and then provision of full services from 2023 onwards. One technical issue had been the need for more and better information on ionospheric effects over Africa to characterise and optimise the EGNOS model for SBAS. Results here were very encouraging, and Lapie said that this was no longer a problem for L1 service on SBAS. He hoped for an ASECNA-EU international agreement as soon as possible. Such a system will need a space-based component and this will have to be subject to an open tender, Lapie told me after his presentation.

On obvious contender for the tender is already in orbit: NigComSat-IR. John A. Momoh of the Nigerian National Space Research and Development Agency described the characteristics of this satellite that was primarily launched to provide communications services but also carried L1 and L5 transponders designed for SBAS. These had been commissioned and showed “close to GPS performance and a signal in space that is compatible with GNSS.” Momoh said that the satellite could be a core component of an Africa SBAS.

Time gentlemen – please!

One new potential wrinkle for Galileo was hinted at during the Munich session on legal issues around GNSS timing. A recent GPS timing issue caused numerous problems for digital broadcasters and financial networks around the world on 26 January, when a data upload went slightly awry. This introduced a 13.7 millisecond error in one of the timing signals: the static offset for GPS time compared to Coordinated Universal Time (UTC). It led to some receivers exhibiting “different and unwanted behaviour” – a very polite description!

Fortunately the issue was resolved swiftly, and correct data uploaded. The extent of any financial losses and how any legal proceedings (if any) to recover damages might pan out are still unclear. However what is clear is that while GPS time has a clear link to legal time, Galileo does not. Dr. Andreas Bauch from the German Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt (PTB) — one of Germany’s “Time Lords” — described the underlying legal basis of GNSS time.

U.S. GPS time is traceable and legally defined to national time and UTC through the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). In Europe most Member States, but not all, have legal time defined in legislation. Galileo System Time (GST) is not linked to a single institution but to an average derived from a network of European standards institutions including PTB. From the presentations it was not clear to me if GST currently has a water-tight legal definition.

Talking to legal and technical experts after this session, it became clear that the legal basis for GST does need to be clearly defined in European legislation — and soon — if Galileo PNT services are to be a commercial reality in the near future. The Commission needs to get on the case for this one pronto.

Tracking Everything

On a lighter note I had great pleasure in chairing a GPS World session at the Summit on the final day with the title of “‘GNSS and Sciences for Life.” This small but perfectly formed session presented three different applications of GNSS used to track people, animals and assets. Walter Naumann of the Max Planck Institute for Ornithology showed, via a series of videos, his remarkable work in the ICARUS project tracking the migration of animals from locusts to elephants via a payload on the International Space Station. GNSS tags that weigh 5 grams or less enable accurate tracking of even the smallest beast.

Stefan Thurner of the Institute of Agricultural Engineering and Animal Husbandry in Freising, Germany described his use of GNSS tags to track cattle and other farm animals in alpine summer pastures, enabling farmers to monitor their herds from a distance. Finally Oliver Trinchera of Kinexon told us about developments at this Munich-based winner of the 2013 Galileo Masters competition. Kinexon technology is used to track people and assets worldwide and has its own proprietary solution for accurate indoor positioning providing a low-cost, scalable solution.

In the same general field as Kinexon one of my favourite young companies — and also a winner at the 2013 European Satellite navigation Competition — Johan Sport has had a great March so far. The month marked the commercial launch of company’s EGNOS-enabled sports tracking products and the launch of a crowdfunding campaign via the Dutch Symbid site. The company was seeking € 150 000 to scale up production and hire a couple more employees. The new funding for 5 percent of the company’s shares values Johan Sport at two million Euros and was oversubscribed within four days! “We are indeed very pleased,” says CEO Jelle Reichert. “Now full throttle to the market!”

The Johan Sport system is seen as the first affordable and reliable performance monitoring system for professional field sports. And with the global market for sports analytical equipment predicted to grow to some $4.7 billion by 2021, there is plenty to play for!

Year of UAVs too?

The unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) sector is a dynamic GNSS-enabled sector globally, and Europe is no exception. In January I attended a UAV event at the Royal Military Academy in Brussels. The focus of the two-day meeting was on small commercial and recreational remotely piloted aircraft systems (RPAS) that are rapidly populating Europe’s airspace.

Currently, there is no European legislation that governs their use in conjunction with general aviation and, typically, national legislation varies across the member states. Regulators are trying to play catch-up.

One interesting EU project trying to tackle this situation is DroneRules.EU. Philippe Carous of SpaceTec Partners said the project’s main objective was to raise general awareness of the rules governing RPAS across the commercial sector and the general public. Speaking as an occasional drone operator – I own a Parrot 2.0 – I must admit I was oblivious of the legal minefield I am potentially entering every time I fly my ‘Boy’s Toy’ around the garden!

The project covers three main areas: privacy and data protection; safety and operation; and insurance and liability. The plan is to establish a set of useful tools on a web portal including awareness, training tools and online resource covering rules at national level plus regulatory developments. The website should be available mid-2016 at http://www.drone-rules.eu.

Rachel Finn of Trilateral Research, a partner in the DroneRules.eu project, talked about privacy and data protection issues which bring some complex rules and liabilities into play as drones are increasingly becoming data collection devices. The company undertook a survey of users for the European Commission and identified private users as the least regulated and most at risk of breaching the rules. Commercial users were seen as medium risk. “Using the same drone with the same payload in different contexts can raise different or new privacy and data protection issues,” Rachel said. Each mission may need to be individually risk assessed.

Listening to the discussion here, it seemed to me that privacy issues could effectively turn any urban area into a ‘no-go’ zone for civil drones let alone other considerations on safety and so on.

The Brussels conference was organised by UVS International whose president Peter van Blyenburgh is a blunt-speaking and passionate advocate for the civil RPAS operating community in Europe.

On 4 March a further workshop took place at EUROCONTROL headquarters in Brussels with the purpose of discussing the future working arrangements and work programme for the development of RPAS standards. Peter van Blyenburgh tells me that not a single RPAS operator had been invited to air their views at this forum.

From the discussions at the workshop it was clear, according to van Blyenburgh, that international, European and national standards organisations are not coordinating their work and consequently there is significant duplication and wasted effort. However it was decided that a single working group will be established to tackle standards work for all sizes of RPAS and terms of reference for this group should be finalised by the middle of June 2016.

During the workshop van Blyenburgh expressed his views on the absolute necessity that RPAS operators and new disruptive technology companies must participate in the work on standards and as there was a large number of light RPAS (<25 kilograms) already flying, it was also imperative to tackle the standards applicable to them as a priority.

Van Blyenburgh takes the view that if the RPAS community is not careful and proactive, their commercial future may be set by standards produced by the traditional airspace players that are not directly involved with their specific community, nor really understand it. It is hard to disagree with his views here.

“Of course, at the same time, the RPAS communities should both remember that airspace safety is a common responsibility that should be proportionately shared by all RPAS community members,” he adds. “Defining this proportionality will be one of the keys to success.”

Polish solution?

If regulations are lacking, technical solutions are ready to roll. One European initiative based in Poland seems to have a viable monitoring and control system developed for drones/ RPAS: The Drone Monitoring System (PSMD) was presented by Justyna Zdanowska of the Grupa Dron House S.A.

The Polish solution can monitor drones in near real-time (the company claims a maximum delay of one second) using GSM and/or GPS technologies and has the ability to manage the drone online through an application. They say this is the first successful development of such technology that is operational and ready for implementation. It has already attracted the interest of some major aerospace players, drone users and the authorities as the system could solve the issue of uncontrolled flights and other problems.

“We offer a complete, ready-to-use system that will radically improve the safety of air traffic, because the drone market is developing at a dynamic rate in an uncontrolled manner,” says Justyna Zdanowska.

The technology also has a huge capacity with up to 18 000 devices controlled and/ or monitored by a single base station at a given location. This should allow full monitoring and identification of unmanned devices.

2016 Masters

Finally I am looking forward to the 2016 Galileo and Copernicus Masters competitions that will launch soon in Europe. These annual high-profile competitions showcase some of the best emerging applications and ideas for GNSS and Earth Observation in Europe, and globally.

As mentioned above the ideas behind both Kinexon and Johan Sport won big at previous Masters events and the 2016 competition launches on 1 April. You can find out more, here.

March 28, 2016
The need to clarify Galileo’s legal basis of time

One new potential wrinkle for Galileo was hinted at during the Munich Satellive Navigation Summit session in March on legal issues around GNSS timing. A recent GPS timing issue caused numerous problems for digital broadcasters and financial networks around the world on Jan. 26, when a data upload went slightly awry. This introduced a 13.7 millisecond error in one of the timing signals: the static offset for GPS time compared to Coordinated Universal Time (UTC). It led to some receivers exhibiting “different and unwanted behaviour” — a very polite description!

Located in a square near the centre of the Czech capital, the Prague Astronomical Clock was among the world’s most accurate timepieces in medieval times. It was put in place back in 1410, incorporating various astronomical and religious details, and is still working to this day.

Fortunately the issue was resolved swiftly, and correct data uploaded. The extent of any financial losses and how any legal proceedings (if any) to recover damages might pan out are still unclear. However ,what is clear is that while GPS time has a clear link to legal time, Galileo does not. Dr. Andreas Bauch from the German Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt (PTB) — one of Germany’s “Time Lords” — described the underlying legal basis of GNSS time.

U.S. GPS time is traceable and legally defined to national time and UTC through the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). In Europe most Member States, but not all, have legal time defined in legislation. Galileo System Time (GST) is not linked to a single institution but to an average derived from a network of European standards institutions including PTB. From the presentations it was not clear to me if GST currently has a water-tight legal definition.

Talking to legal and technical experts after this session, it became clear that the legal basis for GST does need to be clearly defined in European legislation — and soon — if Galileo PNT services are to be a commercial reality in the near future. The commission needs to get on the case for this one pronto.

March 28, 2016