Tag: ESTEC

Galileo signal updated for internet-of-things use

News from the European Space Agency

In April, Galileo marked a step forward with the deployment of a new signal component, known as E5a Quasi Pilot, on 12 satellites of Europe’s satellite navigation constellation. This upgrade makes Galileo signals easier to access, particularly on emerging mass-market, low-power devices used for Internet of Things and smart city applications.

With the world’s most precise satellite navigation system, a constellation of more than 30 satellites and five billion of users worldwide, Europe’s Galileo continues to strengthen its position at the forefront of global navigation satellite systems (GNSS).

Galileo signals, like other GNSS signals, traditionally consists of two components: pilot signals and data signals. The first ones are data-less and help enable the receiver to acquire and track the signal, while the second carry all the navigation information needed to pinpoint the target’s location.

But what if this traditional concept could be rethought to respond to emerging market needs, particularly for users seeking faster and simpler acquisition?

Galileo satellite in orbit

The European Space Agency and its industrial partners have developed a solution targeted at mass-market applications that require low power: E5a-QP, a Quasi-Pilot (QP) signal component transmitted in Galileo’s E5 band.

The signal component is broadcast free of charge and now available for implementation in both new and upgraded chipsets, enabling all users of the Galileo Open Service to benefit from its capabilities.

A small addition for a big computational deduction

Reconfigured E5 spectrum

Quasi-Pilot means a pilot signal that retains its intended role but also carries a small amount of data, including the time information necessary for a first fix. This time information is fully predictable at user level. A Quasi-Pilot signal component is also characterised by a tailored signal structure that simplifies the acquisition process, which reduces the power consumption on the receiver’s end.

This proves particularly useful for low-power, basic receivers such as those found in smartphones, smart-city infrastructure, internet-of-things devices and those that only need to receive a GNSS signal for a very small time to determine their position (also known as ‘snapshot’ devices).

The deployment of E5a-QP also represents a key enabler for low-power receivers designed to process signals exclusively in the E5 band, rather than relying on signals in the E1 band. In this way, the resilience of the receiver against spoofing and jamming attacks is increased, as the fundamental acquisition process is no longer only dependent solely on E1 signals.

Test campaigns have demonstrated that E5a-QP can reduce signal acquisition time by a factor of three, while substantially lowering the number of operations required for acquisition by a factor of eight.

Testing, validation and in‑orbit deployment

ESA and Industry Engineers in the ESTEC Navigation Payload Laboratory

The introduction of this new Galileo signal component follows an extensive series of design, testing and validation that demonstrated the value of the signal and the feasibility of implementing new signal components on current Galileo satellites.

Starting 2020, a design phase explored how to reconfigure the Galileo satellites’ payload to integrate the new signal component. Following on, a series of tests were run on engineering models at ESA’s Navigation Payload Laboratory to demonstrate the feasibility and performance benefits that can be achieved with the new signal component.

A space antenna farm amid the Ardennes forest

In 2023, the solution was then validated using an in-orbit test bench: a duo of Galileo satellites operating in an elliptical orbit reconfigured to transmit the new signal component. The signal was measured at Galileo In-Orbit Test facility at ESEC in Belgium and DLR’s Signal Monitoring Facility in Germany, and successfully acquired and tracked by a set of receivers at ESTEC in the Netherlands.

First generation updated, second generation in mind

Between November 2025 and April 2026, twelve Galileo satellites were updated to accommodate this new signal component, marking the completion of this deployment.

This critical mass of satellites ensures that at least one of the satellites used to compute a position fix transmit the Quasi-Pilot signal at medium to high elevation angles, making sure that users around the world can benefit from the performance gains.

This is just the beginning of Quasi-Pilot use within Galileo. All Galileo Second Generation satellites will broadcast additional and improved Quasi-Pilot signals on several frequencies, further enhancing their features and availability.

June 22, 2026
Be there at noon moon time: ESA is researching how to tell time on the moon

An artist’s impression of a Moon exploration scenario. (Image: ESA)

As there are several missions to the moon planned within the next decade, space agencies have started to consider how to keep time on the moon. To address time concerns, the LunaNet architecture, designed for lunar communications and navigation services, was introduced at the ESTEC technology center of the European Space Agency (ESA) in the Netherlands in November 2022.

“LunaNet is a framework of mutually agreed-upon standards, protocols and interface requirements allowing future lunar missions to work together, conceptually similar to what we did on Earth for joint use of GPS and Galileo,” said Javier Ventura-Trav

eset, ESA’s Moonlight navigation manager, coordinating ESA contributions to LunaNet. “Now, in the lunar context, we have the opportunity to agree on our interoperability approach from the very beginning, before the systems are actually implemented.”

“During this meeting at ESTEC, we agreed on the importance and urgency of defining a common lunar reference time, which is internationally accepted and towards which all lunar system and users may refer,” said Pietro Giordano, ESA navigation system engineer. “A joint international effort is now being launched towards achieving this.”

Each mission to the moon has operated on its own timescale from Earth. Deep space antennas have been used to keep onboard chronometers synchronized with terrestrial time at the same time to facilitate two-way communications. ESA stated that this way of working will not be sustainable in the coming lunar environment.

Time to think about time

Should a single organization be responsible for setting and maintaining lunar time? Also, should lunar time be set on an independent basis on the moon or kept synchronized with Earth? And what about time on other planets?

“Of course, the agreed time system will also have to be practical for astronauts,” said Bernhard Hufenbach, a member of the Moonlight Management Team from ESA’s Directorate of Human and Robotic Exploration. “This will be quite a challenge on a planetary surface where in the equatorial region each day is 29.5 Earth days long, including freezing fortnight-long lunar nights, with the whole of Earth just a small blue circle in the dark sky. However, having established a working time system for the moon, we can go on to do the same for other planetary destinations.”

To efficiently collaborate, the international community will have to settle on a common “selenocentric reference frame,” similar to the role played on Earth by the International Terrestrial Reference Frame, allowing the consistent measurement of precise distances between points across the planet.

March 3, 2023
Industry Day: Find out how to take part in low-orbit satnav testing

The European Space Agency (ESA) is in search of European companies interested in taking part in the in-orbit demonstration of a low-Earth-orbit (LEO) satellite navigation constellation utilizing novel frequencies and capabilities.

Those interested in participating are encouraged to attend ESA’s LEO-PNT Industry Day on March 7 at the ESTEC technical center in the Netherlands. The LEO-PNT Industry Day will give an overview of the project to companies, research institutions and ESA delegates from Member States.

A detailed invitation will be issued soon, covering all aspects of the LEO-PNT Orbit Demonstrator, including the space and ground segments, operations, launchers, the test user segment, experimentation, and segment demonstration.

Registration by Feb. 27 is required. To learn more, visit atpi.eventsair.com.

LEO satellites would supplement the existing Galileo constellation. (Image: ESA)

February 14, 2023
Last first-generation Galileo satellite leaves test site

Image: ESA

On Nov. 11, the last Galileo satellite of first-generation series was shipped from ESA’s ESTEC Test Centre, Europe’s largest satellite testing facility. Galileo is Europe’s largest satellite constellation and one of the most accurate satnav systems in the world.

Galileo’s development began two decades ago with two test GIOVE satellites, followed by a series of other operational launches to add to the constellation. The current constellation consists of 34 Full Operational Capability satellites, the initial two GIOVE satellites, and the Galileo In-Orbit Validation satellite. Galileo Second Generation satellites are already in development.

December 29, 2022
ESTEC says goodbye to Galileo 1st Generation satellites

Screenshot: ESA video

ESTEC Test Centre, Europe’s largest satellite testing facility, said goodbye on Nov. 14 to the final satellite in the Galileo First Generation series, as it departed to OHB in Germany. There, it will rest in storage until ready to be sent for launch.

In a new European Space Agency (ESA) video, the people responsible for readying the satellites for space have gathered to reflect on the end of an era.

The work on Galileo began two decades ago with two test Galileo In-Orbit Validation (GIOVE) satellites, followed by a series of operational launches. The two GIOVE satellites and all 34 Galileo Full Operational Capability satellites were tested at ESTEC.

Next will come the Galileo Second Generation satellites, already in development.

November 15, 2022
ESA completes end-to-end test of enhanced, secure Galileo service

Galileo Control Centre in Oberpfaffenhofen, Germany. (Photo: ESA)

News from the European Space Agency (ESA)

Europe’s Galileo satellite navigation system continues to evolve. For the first time, end-to-end testing of the Galileo system demonstrated signal acquisition of an improved version of the Public Regulated Service (PRS), the most secure and robust class of Galileo services.

The system test extended from the Galileo Security Monitoring Centre in Spain and the Galileo Control Centre in Germany to a Galileo satellite at ESA’s ESTEC technical heart in the Netherlands, which then broadcast in turn to a user receiver.

Galileo’s PRS is an encrypted navigation and timing service for governmental authorized users and sensitive applications intended to remain available even in scenarios where other Galileo services might be degraded or jammed.

An initial version of the PRS signal has been broadcast by the satellites up to now, but as of next year the signals will evolve into an enhanced version known as Full Operational Capability Public Regulated Service (FOC PRS), which has been defined in close collaboration with the European Commission, the European Union Agency for the Space Programme (EUSPA) and the EU Member States.

The system’s FOC PRS capability is being enabled by an expansion of the Galileo ground mission segment — important upgrades of the Galileo Security Monitoring Centres (GSMCs) in St. Germain-en-Laye, France, and Madrid, Spain. These two sites oversee PRS provision and monitor its performance.

This coming version of the security monitoring centers, set for the following year, is being developed by an industrial consortium led by Thales Alenia Space in France.

Meanwhile the progressive deployment of remote system infrastructure is taking place over the course of this year, readying Galileo sensor stations to receive the upgraded PRS signals.

Upgrade of Galileo Sensor Station on Norway’s remote Jan Mayen Island in the Arctic Ocean. (Photo: ESA)

“To qualify, the FOC PRS Signal in Space required a major Galileo end-to-end test, demonstrating the compatibility of the space segment with the ground and user segments, called the System Compatibility Test Campaign (SCTC),” explained Federico Di Marco, ESA SCTC test director. “This test involved all Galileo key players spread across Europe, requiring close cooperation between the teams and months of preparation.”

The SCTC was led by an ESA engineering team from the agency’s ESTEC technical center in Noordwijk, the Netherlands supported by the System Engineering Technical Assistance industrial team led by Thales Alenia Space in Italy and in close collaboration with the operations team supervised by EUSPA.

“The testing involved three centers across Europe: the GSMC in Madrid, the Galileo Control Centre in Oberpfaffenhofen, and ESTEC hosting an actual Galileo satellite plus FOC PRS user receivers,” added Edward Breeuwer, who is in charge of Galileo system qualification at ESA.

FOC PRS test receiver developed by Antwerp Space under ESA contract. (Photo: ESA)

The FOC PRS signal was generated at the GSMC, sent to the German control center, then uplinked to the Galileo satellite at ESTEC, where the satellites are tested for space in advance of launch. The Galileo satellite then broadcast the FOC PRS signal in turn, to be picked up by a pair of receivers also on site: one developed by Antwerp Space under ESA contract and the other developed by Leonardo as part of a national development undertaken by Italy’s Competent PRS Authority, charged with overseeing the country’s PRS use.

“This marks the first time we have integrated such a nationally developed receiver within a system test activity,” said Fabio Covello, who oversees system security for ESA. “Having achieved this for PRS makes us very proud. We are confident that this experience can pave the way for future fruitful collaborations between the Galileo Programme and EU Member States, in the frame of specific tests to guarantee compatibility between the ESA-developed system and nationally developed PRS receivers.”

This successful outcome sets the scene for the PRS qualification at ground segment and system level, followed by operational validation planned in coming months, culminating in the first FOC PRS Signal In Space operational broadcast, in the course of next year.

FOC PRS test receiver developed by Leonardo as part of a national development undertaken by Italy’s Competent PRS Authority, charged with overseeing the country’s PRS use. (Photo: ESA)

September 14, 2022
Galileo satellites undergo magnetic testing at ESTEC

News from the European Space Agency (ESA)

Within ESA’s Maxwell EMC Facility, each Galileo satellite is switched on as if it were already operating in space. The test procedure is a check of the satellite’s electromagnetic compatibility; all its systems are run together to detect any harmful interference between them.

Once Maxwell’s main door is sealed, its metal walls form a Faraday Cage, screening out external electromagnetic signals. The anechoic foam pyramids covering its interior absorb internal signals – as well as sound – to prevent any reflection, mimicking the infinite void of space for satellite testing.

In the photo here, sheathed in multi-layer insulation, the 2.5 x 1.2 x 1.1-meter satellite’s main 1.4-m diameter antenna transmits L-band navigation signals. To its left is the hexagonal search and rescue antenna that will pick up distress signals and relay them to local emergency services, contributing to saving more than 2,000 lives annually.

The Face of Galileo: A Galileo satellite is tested in the Maxwell EMC Facility before heading for space. (Photo: ESA)

To the bottom right of the navigation antenna are a pair of infrared Earth sensors to keep the navigation permanently locked onto Earth by homing in on the contrast between the heat of Earth’s atmosphere and the cold of deep space.

Above them is the laser retro-reflector: lasers are shone up to this from International Laser Ranging Service stations to perform an independent check of the satellite’s orbital position down to an accuracy of less than a centimeter, as a backup of standard radio ranging.

Above that is the circular C-band antenna, which every 45 minutes or so receives the navigation messages from the Galileo ground segment. These signals incorporate corrections for slight clock errors, orbital drift or satellite malfunctions that user receivers can process as they perform positioning fixes, helping ensure Galileo delivers meter-scale positioning to users around the globe.

What resembles a white baton on the end of the satellite is its S-band antenna, employed to return “housekeeping” telemetry data to mission control on Earth and pick up telecommands to operate the satellite platform and payload – as well as performing the ranging used to estimate the satellite’s position in space.

The Maxwell EMC Facility is part of the ESTEC Test Centre in ESA’s technical heart in Noordwijk, the Netherlands – Europe’s largest satellite testing facility, which has flight-tested all but two of the 28 Galileo satellites already in orbit, and is doing the same for the next 10 satellites planned to join the constellation.

June 21, 2022
Galileo G2 navigation payloads begin testing

Testing on Galileo’s second-generation hardware has begun.

Test versions of the satellites’ navigation payloads is undergoing evaluation by Airbus Defence and Space at its Ottobrunn facility in Germany and by Thales Alenia Space at the ESTEC technical center in the Netherlands of the European Space Agency (ESA).

Known as the Galileo Payload Testbeds (GPLTBs), these are development models of the navigation payloads intended for the Galileo Second Generation (G2) satellites. The navigation antennas of the testbed payloads are being testing to check whether they meet the ambitious performance levels set for the G2 satellites.

Instead of being assembled from space-ready components like an actual satellite payload, the GPLTBs are built from electronic parts placed in test racks, with a proof-of-concept version of a navigation antenna attached.

“The goal with these test campaigns is to prove their design concepts early, and anticipate any technical issues that might arise as early as possible,” said Cédric Magueur, ESA’s payload manager for the Thales G2 satellites.

“These campaigns also make it possible to develop and validate new performance measurements concepts for these new generation of complex navigation payloads,” said Dirk Hannes, ESA’s payload manager for the Airbus G2 satellites. “This will allow us to optimize the production efficiency of the flight model series.”

The second satellite in the European Data Relay System (EDRS) undergoes tests at Airbus’s Compact Antenna Test Range facility. (Photo: ESA)

“Results from the testing will feed into the up-coming Preliminary Design Review for the new satellites, backing up the analyses by the companies with solid measurements,” Cédric said. “Such early testing also supports the ambitious timescale for the development and construction of G2 satellites, with the first satellites planned to reach orbit by the middle of this decade.”

There are 26 Galileo satellites now in orbit; deployment of 12 more will begin by the end of this year. Next will come the first 12 G2 satellites, featuring enhanced navigation signals and fully digital payloads. The new generation will be made up of two independent families of satellites meeting the same performance requirements, produced by Thales Alenia Space in Italy and Airbus Defence and Space in Germany.

Airbus Defence and Space’s GPLTB is undergoing radiated testing at the company’s Ottobrunn facility, inside a Compact Antenna Test Range (CATR). Meanwhile, the Thales Alenia Space GPLTB is about to start testing inside ESTEC’s own Hybrid European Radio Frequency and Antenna Test Zone (Hertz) chamber. The metal-walled chambers are isolated from external radio interference, with inner walls studded with foam pyramids to minimize radio-frequency signal reflections, mimicking the void of space.

“Up until now all GPLTB testing has taken place by plugging them into test boards,” Cédric said. “These test campaigns mark the first time that their performances will be confirmed in terms of radiating signals. In our first phase we will perform near-field measurements directly around the antenna to measure all the characteristics of the signal shape, to check it matches previous conductance tests. Then, via computation, we can derive its far-field performance.”

In the second test phase, the actual far-field measurements will be performed using another feature of the chambers, a pair of paraboloid reflectors. In this way, the signal from the testbed can be reshaped as if it had traveled the long distance that actual Galileo signals need to travel, from an altitude of 23,222 km down to Earth’s surface.

At Airbus, the testing is being undertaken in reverse order, with the far-field measurements taking place before performing the near-field measurements.

August 6, 2021
How Galileo performed its authenticated positioning fix

News from the European Space Agency (ESA)

In a first for any satellite navigation system, Galileo has achieved a positioning fix based on open-service navigation signals carrying authenticated data. Intended as a way to combat malicious spoofing of satnav signals, this authentication testing began at ESA’s Navigation Laboratory — the same site where the very first Galileo positioning fix took place back in 2013.

These historic first authenticated signal position, velocity and timing fixes were made using a total of eight Galileo satellites for around two hours on Nov. 18. The tests represent a first proof of concept for an eventual operational service offering positioning with authenticated data to users.

Spoofing has, for instance, been demonstrated as a means of forcing down drones or redirecting ships, while some high security locations — as well as disrupted international borders — have become notorious for spoofing signals that prevent the reliable use of satnav in their vicinity.

The Galileo Control Centres send the navigation signal to the GSC for the addition of the authentication code, which is then returned for uplink to the satellites.

“When a receiver picks up a navigation signal from a satellite, up until now it has no way of confirming that was indeed its source,” said navigation engineer Stefano Binda, overseeing the project for ESA. “This can result in spoofing — malicious people and organisations using false signals to mislead users about their actual position. This authentication service offers a way to prevent such deception.”

“In recent years, this problem has become sufficiently pronounced as a weak point that the European Commission, ESA and European GNSS Agency (GSA) decided to develop signal authentication as a differentiator for Galileo,” Binda said.

An ESA Navigation Directorate team at the Agency’s ESTEC technical centre in the Netherlands worked with its GSA counterparts at the twin Galileo Control Centres (GCCs) in Italy and Germany and the Galileo Service Centre (GSC) in Spain. “In everyday authentication you might send a document that has been digitally signed, where both sender and recipient use compatible cryptographic keys to validate the document’s source of origin,” Binda said.

“In this case we were working with a constrained amount of bandwidth within the navigation signal, so instead opted for a ‘delayed key’ approach. This means the initial data come along together a short tag which, within a short stretch of time usually not exceeding 30 seconds, is followed by a key, which is able to validate the tag and authenticate the data associated with it.”

During the test campaign, the Galileo Control Centres send the navigation signal to the GSC for the addition of the authentication code, which is then returned for uplink to the satellites, to be received and authenticated by the test receivers at ESTEC’s Navigation Lab and elsewhere in Europe, in participating laboratories.

To enabled the authentication test campaign, Thales Alenia Space in France served as prime contractor to upgrade of the Galileo Mission Segment — the world-spanning system that determines and create the navigation messages broadcast by Galileo satellites. Thales Alenia Space in Italy was responsible for the system level integration.

No modification of onboard satellite systems has been required to support Open Service Navigation Message Authentication (OSNMA), as spare bandwidth was made use of.

“We used our standard laboratory Septentrio test user receivers with a software add-on,” Binda said. “The beauty of this approach is that receivers will be able to make use of the future authenticated service without needing any new hardware, only software updates — apart from additional measures that might be mandated for operation in practice.”

ESA and GSA are continuing their authentication testing, with a view to introducing an operational Open Service Navigation Message Authentication service for users in the near future.

ESA’s Radio Frequency Systems, Payload and Technology Laboratories perform RF research for both the space and ground segments. (Photo: ESA)

March 15, 2021
Tests begin of Galileo’s OSNMA signal authentication service

In a first for any satellite navigation system, Galileo has achieved the first position fix based on navigation signals carrying authenticated data, according to the European Space Agency.

Galileo’s Open Service Navigation Message Authentication (OSNMA) is intended as a way to combat malicious spoofing of satnav signals.

OSNMA receivers successfully calculated an OSNMA-protected position fix after Galileo satellites started transmitting authentication data at 15:28 UTC on Nov. 18, 2020. The first tests used eight Galileo satellites for around two hours on Nov. 18. Tests have continued ever since, for intermittent periods, and will continue over the next months ahead of a public observation phase.

The first authenticated signal position, velocity and timing fixes were made using a total of eight Galileo satellites for around two hours on Nov. 18, 2020. The tests represent a first proof-of-concept for an eventual operational service offering positioning with authenticated data to users. (Image: ESA)

Pioneering a long-awaited service

The Galileo OSNMA authentication mechanism allows GNSS receivers to verify Galileo information, making sure that received data are indeed from Galileo and not modified in any way.

“Ensuring the validity of positions elaborated by GNSS is one of the main challenges before addressing an entirely new set of applications demanding dependability and resilience,” said Matthias Petschke, director of space at the European Commission, DG DEFIS. “Galileo is now set on course to deliver on this highly anticipated feature and has many more novel features in store for the coming years.”

Testing is taking place at ESA’s Navigation Laboratory at ESTEC in the Netherlands, the same site where the first Galileo positioning fix took place in 2013.(Photo: ESA)

Increased robustness

OSNMA test signals are being broadcast by the Galileo constellation using the spare bits from the current navigation message, therefore not impacting the legacy OS receivers implementing the current OS Signal-In-Space Interface Control Document (OS SIS ICD).

“Galileo’s Open Service Navigation Message Authentication is one of its key differentiators,” said Rodrigo da Costa, executive director of the European GNSS Agency. “The additional robustness that it will provide to the Galileo signal will be critical for many applications, particularly those where security and trustworthiness are a priority, making the OSNMA a key component in any resilient PNT solution.”

OSNMA works on a comparable basis to everyday encryption, where sending a digitally signed document involves both sender and recipient using compatible cryptographic keys (private and public) to validate the document’s source of origin.

“Up until now, as a navigation satellite disseminates navigation and timing data, there is no way of confirming these data are indeed coming from their apparent originator,” explained Paul Verhoef, director of navigation at the European Space Agency. “As a result, the data could be falsified, a phenomenon known as spoofing, where corrupt false signals mislead receivers about their position, misleading their users in turn, with potentially serious consequences.”

An ESA Navigation Directorate team at the ESTEC technical centre in the Netherlands worked with their European GNSS Agency (GSA) counterparts at the twin Galileo Control Centres in Italy and Germany and the Galileo Service Centre (GSC) in Spain to develop and test the OSNMA.

Next steps

Upon successful completion of the internal testing phase, a public observation phase will begin, in which the OSNMA signal will be publicly accessible. In preparation for this phase, the OSNMA user Signal-In-Space Interface Control Document (OSNMA SIS ICD), receiver implementation guidelines, and the necessary cryptographic materials will be published. This will allow receiver manufacturers and application developers to test and prepare their products.

During the public observation phase, feedback will be gathered from users, leading to the consolidation of the service.

Testbed vehicle by ESA’s Navigation Lab. (Photo: ESA)

February 11, 2021
Testing suspended on Galileo Batch 3 satellites

In response to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, the test campaign for the first two satellites of Galileo’s Batch 3 has been suspended.

The suspension is based on the medical advice for social distancing — too high a concentration of people is needed on site if testing were to continue, according to the European Space Agency (ESA).

An aerial view of ESTEC. The Erasmus building is at front right. The T building (home to ESA’s Galileo team) is in the foreground. (Photo: ESTEC)

The satellites are based at the ESTEC Test Centre in the Netherlands for engineering tests ahead of launch. The stored satellites are being monitored by staff visiting ESTEC every few days, to verify that all is in order.

Other Galileo-related testing continues with the aim of supporting future launches. ESTEC-based lifetime testing of the next set of rubidium atomic clocks is set to continue, involving on-site monitoring every few days.

Working from home

ESA’s Directorate of Navigation has shifted to teleworking while also ensuring the continuity of essential tasks, in particular the continued delivery of positioning, navigation and timing services of both Galileo and EGNOS.

The ESA team is using video and audio conferences to continue meetings with the industries involved and minimize the impact on the deliveries of EGNOS upgrades, Galileo Batch 3 satellites, and preparatory work for Galileo Second Generation.

The national, local and industrial decisions on travel, meetings and quarantine are impacting the ability to deliver all ongoing commitments, so measures are being taken to minimize their impact, ESA said in a press release.

Priority has been given to ensure continued operations of both EGNOS and Galileo, so the ESA Navigation Directorate has been supporting the European GNSS Agency (GSA), the operator of Galileo and EGNOS, on behalf of the European Commission.

The team also is maintaining constant contact with various stakeholders.

NAVISP and Horizon 2020

Research and development projects under the Directorate’s Navigation Innovation and Support Programme (NAVISP) are continuing at a somewhat slower pace, given the crisis. So are satellite navigation projects financed by the EU’s Horizon 2020 programme, which develop future technology for the EU satellite navigation projects.

“Confronted with this unprecedented situation, our efforts are focussing on business continuity and supporting the GSA with services provision of Galileo and EGNOS, while taking all necessary measures to protect our personnel,” said Paul Verhoef, ESA Director of Navigation. “An impact assessment will only be possible when we see the end of the restrictions in the various European countries. For the time being, stay home, stay healthy, is the priority, whereas however we are in close contact with industry to try and keep momentum on the projects that are underway.”

March 30, 2020
UN satnav specialists tour ESA’s GNSS facilities

Delegates from the UN’s International Committee Global Navigation Systems (UN ICG) at the entrance to ESA’s ESTEC Test Centre, used to test the last 22 Galileo satellites. (Photo: ESA)

The UN ICG group visited ESTEC on May 16 during a meeting in the Netherlands.

News from the European Space Agency (ESA)

Members of the United Nations (UN) technical group supporting global cooperation in satellite navigation toured ESA’s technical centre in the Netherlands to see key facilities used to develop Europe’s Galileo system.

Delegates from the UN’s International Committee on Global Navigation Systems (UN ICG) met in mid-May at the nearby Galileo Reference Centre, operated by the GSA, European Global Navigation Satellite Systems Agency.

ESA, one of the founding members of the ICG in 2005, invited them to visit the agency’s European Space Research and Technology Centre, ESA’s single largest establishment and home to its Navigation Directorate.

Javier Benedicto, ESA’s Galileo program manager was joined by Rodrigo Da Costa, GSA’s Head of Exploitation, in giving the visitors a hearty welcome. “I’m honored to work with the amazing team of engineers and managers responsible for developing the Galileo system,” Benedicto said. “The laboratory and testing facilities here are very much at the heart of Galileo development.”

ESA’s Receiver Testing Facility is the historic location of the first Galileo positioning fix in 2012. (Photo: ESA)

“I’m very happy to welcome members of the UN ICG group, doing a great job in bringing navigation satellite system operators together, to share achievements and challenges and encourage interoperability – our users love our systems working together.”

The tour began at ESA’s Receiver Testing Facility — historic location of the world’s very first Galileo positioning fix back in 2012 – equipped with a multitude of specialized satnav receivers for not only Galileo satellites but also the US GPS, Russian Glonass, Chinese BeiDou, India’s NAVIC and Japanese QZSS systems, together with augmentation systems such as Europe’s own European Geostationary Navigation Service, EGNOS. The signals from all these systems can also be recorded to very high fidelity for subsequent investigation or reuse.

Lab simulation systems can recreate all these outputs in combination to test receiver systems across a huge range of scenarios, such as amid interference induced by a solar storm, or to see how receivers cope while flying, or even in orbit.

Smartphone receivers can be assessed with simulated augmentation from cellular network stations, wifi mapping or inertial navigation, while simulating their user’s continuous motion. The flexibility the facility’s simulators offer also allows early testing of enhancements planned for next decade’s ‘Galileo Second Generation’ satellites.

“Our aim is to go closer to the market, and how they’re doing things because how current services are being exploited is very important for developing the next generation,” said Olivier Smeyers of ESA’s Commercial User Segment Section.

This table in ESA’s Galileo Payload Laboratory comprises a replica Galileo In-Orbit Validation satellite payload (other than its atomic clocks, which are housed separately nearby). Kept in cleanroom conditions at ESTEC in the Netherlands, it is employed for ground-based testing or anomaly investigation. (Photo: ESA)

Next came the Galileo Processing Centre, which provides ESA with continuous monitoring of Galileo services. It functions independently from the rest of the global Galileo infrastructure, to allow independent assessment of its performance, down to individual satellites and the onboard atomic clocks at the heart of the system — working closely with facilities such as the Galileo Time Validation Facility in Spain and the Galileo Control Centres in Germany and Italy.

The group was also shown ESA’s Time and Metrology Facility: an ensemble of six high-performance atomic clocks sufficiently stable to monitor the nanosecond-scale performance of Galileo System Time, and since 2012 maintaining their own timescale called UTC (ESTC), employed in turn to help set Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) — the world’s global time.

The cleanroom environment of the Galileo Payload Laboratory contains the same atomic clocks flown aboard Galileo satellites with the rest of its navigation payload, used to replicate any performance anomalies identified in orbit and make early tests of Galileo Second Generation design improvements.

The tour proceeded to view ESA’s two Telecommunications and Navigation Testbed Vehicles and the Test Centre where the most recent 22 satellites were cleared for launch.

“ESA is a very active member of UN ICG,” commented Rafael Lucas Rodriguez of ESA’s Galileo Services Engineering Unit and tour organizer. “We’re currently co-chairing an ICG working group on system performance enhancement and supporting the European Commission and GSA on all Galileo-related technical matters discussed at the committee.”

An aerial view of ESTEC. The Erasmus building is at front right. The T building (home to ESA’s Galileo team) is in the foreground.

May 31, 2018