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.
“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.
The next two satellites in Europe’s Galileo satellite navigation system have arrived at Europe’s Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana, ahead of their planned launch from the jungle space base in July.
Galileo satellites 23 and 24 left Luxembourg Airport on a Boeing 747 cargo jet on the morning of May 4, arriving at Cayenne – Félix Eboué Airport in French Guiana that evening.
Arrival at the Felix Eboué airport on April 5, 2018. (Photo: ESA)
They were then unloaded, still in their protective air-conditioned containers, and transported by truck to the cleanroom environment of the preparation building within Europe’s Spaceport.
This pair will be launched along with another two Galileo satellites, which are due to be transported to French Guiana later this month.
The quartet will be launched together on a customized Ariane 5 on July 25.
The Galileo System began Initial Services on Dec. 15, 2016, and a growing number of commercial devices are using Galileo today. Completion of the constellation should improve Galileo’s positioning accuracy further still.
One of two Galileo satellites being driven by truck to the Guiana Space Centre inside its container. Galileo satellites 23 and 24 left Luxembourg Airport on a Boeing 747 cargo jet on the morning of May 4, arriving at Cayenne – Félix Eboué Airport in French Guiana that evening. (Photo: ESA)
But Galileo satellites will continue to be launched into the future: a further 12 Galileo “Batch 3” satellites were ordered last June, supplementing the 26 built so far to provide further in-orbit spares, and replacements for the oldest Galileo satellites, first launched in 2011.
A steady stream of orbital spares, ready to replace satellites reaching the end of their operational lives, is essential to ensure Galileo continues operating seamlessly.
Looking further ahead, with the aim of keeping Galileo services as a permanent part of the European and global landscape, replacement satellites will be required by the middle of the next decade, offering improved performance and added features.
Less than two weeks after it was launched, the Copernicus Sentinel-3B satellite has delivered its first images of Earth. Exceeding expectations, this first set of images include the sunset over Antarctica, sea ice in the Arctic and a view of northern Europe.
One of the Copernicus Sentinel-3B’s first images featured Greenland. Captured on May 7, 2018, at 13:20 GMT (15:20 CEST), the image shows sea ice swirled into eddies caused by the wind and ocean currents. The image was taken by the satellite’s ocean and land colour Instrument, which features 21 distinct bands, a resolution of 300 m and a swath width of 1270 km. The instrument can be used to monitor aquatic biological productivity and marine pollution, and over land it can be used to monitor the health of vegetation. (Image: ESA)
The very first image, captured on May 7 at 10:33 GMT (12:33 CEST), shows the transition between day and night over the Weddell Sea in Antarctica. The satellite also captured swirls of sea ice off Greenland on the same day. Another in this first set of images offers a rare cloud-free view of northern Europe.
They were taken by the satellite’s ocean and land colour instrument, which features 21 distinct bands, a resolution of 300 m and a swath width of 1270 km. The instrument can be used to monitor aquatic biological productivity and marine pollution, and over land it can be used to monitor the health of vegetation.
Josef Aschbacher, ESA’s Director of Earth Observation Programmes, said, “The launch of Sentinel-3B completed the first batch of Sentinels that we are delivering for Copernicus.
“We finished the launch and early orbit phase in a record time and we are now getting on with the task of commissioning the satellite for service.
“These first images from the ocean and land colour instrument already show how the satellite is set to play its role in providing a stream of high-quality environmental data to improve lives, boost the economy and protect our world.”
The Copernicus Sentinel-3B satellite captured this rare cloud-free view of Northern Europe on May 8, 2018, at 09:33 GMT (11:33 CEST). Features over land and water can been seen clearly such as different types of land cover, snow and also a plume of phytoplankton in the North Sea. The image was taken by the satellite’s ocean and land color Instrument. (Image: ESA)
The Sentinel-3B satellite lifted off from Russia on 25 April and joins it identical twin, Sentinel-3A, in orbit. This pairing of satellites increases coverage and data delivery for the European Union’s Copernicus environment programme.
As the workhorse mission for Copernicus, the two satellites carry the same suite of instruments to systematically measure Earth’s oceans, land, ice and atmosphere.
Over oceans, it measures the temperature, colour and height of the sea surface as well as the thickness of sea ice. These measurements are used, for example, to monitor changes in Earth’s climate and for more hands-on applications such as for monitoring marine pollution.
Over land, this innovative mission monitors wildfires, maps the way land is used, checks vegetation health and measures the height of rivers and lakes.
European Commissioner for Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs Elzbieta Bienkowska, said, “This new satellite will deliver valuable images of how our oceans and land are changing.
“This will not only speed up the response to natural disasters, but also create new business opportunities. Earth observation is a larger market than you would think – a driver for research discoveries, a provider of highly skilled jobs and a developer of innovative services and applications.”
One of the Copernicus Sentinel-3B’s first images featured Greenland. Captured on May 7, 2018, at 13:20 GMT (15:20 CEST), the image shows sea ice swirled into eddies caused by the wind and ocean currents, and was taken by the satellite’s ocean and land color Instrument. (Image: ESA)
Bruno Berruti, ESA’s Sentinel-3 Project Manager, said, “We are extremely pleased to see these first images, which show that the satellite is in good health.
“ESA will spend the next five months carefully calibrating the instruments and commissioning the satellite for service before it is handed over to Eumetsat for routine operations.”
During this commission phase the two Sentinel-3 satellites will be flown in a tandem formation, separated by about 30 seconds.
Sentinel-3B will then be phased to reach its final position – flying in the same orbit, but adjusted to be separated by 140° with respect to Sentinel-3A.
Once commissioned, ESA will hand over satellite operations to Eumetsat. It will then be managed jointly, with ESA generating the land products and Eumetsat the marine products for application through the Copernicus services.
Alain Ratier, Director-General of Eumetsat, added, “The Sentinel-3 constellation establishes the European backbone of a space-based, global ocean-monitoring system.
“These first images are the first demonstration that Sentinel-3B will deliver on its promise to usher in a new era for operational oceanography and flow-on benefits for human safety, businesses and industry.
“They will amplify the benefits of the Sentinel 3 mission for ocean forecasting and the blue economy.”
Sentinel-3B is the seventh Sentinel satellite launched for Copernicus. Each mission carries different state-of-the-art technology to deliver a stream of complementary imagery and data to monitor the environment.
This month, we bring you a guest column on the 34th Space Symposium in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Robin Wrinn, a communications professional based in Atlanta, gives her perspective on the premier annual space event, held in April. Among her findings: information on the mission longevity vs. technology innovation debate, GPS IIIF program bids, discussions of time and space, and more.
— Alan Cameron, editor
During recent interviews with Lockheed Martin and Harris Corporation conducted during the 34th Space Symposium (April 16-19) in Colorado Springs, time and space were a frequent focus of discussion, but not in the normal “continuum” kind of way.
Greater mission longevity is one of the key improvements GPS III delivers over those currently in service. Space Vehicles 1-10 have a planned mission life of about 15 years – 25 percent longer than their satellite predecessors. Yet that bragging right begs the question “How long should a satellite ‘live’ up in space with technology innovation occurring almost annually?” After all the last Block IIR-M series satellite was launched in 2009. To put that into perspective, that same year the Canadian company Blackberry (RIM) held 20 percent of the smartphone OS market share and was the second largest OS in the world. Apple had just introduced the iPhone two years earlier.
A partial answer to that question it seems is advanced payload technology. Both Lockheed Martin and Harris Corporation highlighted their advances in payload capabilities that would enable built-in flexibility to adapt satellites in orbit to advances in technology, as well as changes in missions. Lockheed Martin provided the media a tour of their RF (Radio Frequency) Payload Center of Excellence (Payload Center). Meanwhile, Harris Corporation recently announced that is has completed development of the company’s fully digital Mission Data Unit (MDU), which is core to the navigation payload for GPS III 11 +.)
As a reminder, the current Harris payload for SVs 1-10 includes:
Greater than three times reduction in range error,
Up to eight times increase in anti-jamming power,
Added signals – including one (L1C civil signal) compatible with other Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS), like the European Space Agency’s Galileo.
And greater signal integrity.
According to Harris, the new, fully digital navigation payload it has engineered will deliver more powerful signals, PLUS the ability to change and upgrade the satellites incrementally over the mission life.
Meanwhile, Lockheed recently announced a partnership with NEC to introduce artificial intelligence for computer learning in orbit. And the company’s Payload Center subject matter experts touted their significant advances in processers and a move toward the next generation of antennas, arrays and transmitters that would drive more flexibility and capability and resilience into satellites.
Observation: It seems the market pressures of ‘new space’ players is prompting delivery of products that can drive more value for less cost. In this case, delivery of a common payload architecture and electronically steered beams to make satellite antennas become any shape you want. Most likely, beams of a different size on demand is a much better business case than a static one built five years ago.
GPS III 1-10 on track. in full production. GPSIII SV1 awaiting U.S. Air Force “Call Up” for Launch
Lockheed Martin’s GPS III SV03 became fully integrated in August 2017. Photo: Lockheed Martin
The day I interviewed Lockheed Martin’s Navigation Systems mission area Program Manager Johnathon Caldwell, the company had submitted its proposal for the U.S. Air Force’s GPS III Follow On (GPS IIIF) program. That same day, April 16, the media was given a tour of Lockheed Martin’s GPS III satellite assembly floor. It was clear from both Lockheed’s press materials and Caldwell that Lockheed Martin believes it is fully recovered from prior production hiccups and is
• “on track” to deliver GPS Space Vehicles (SVs) 1 through 10, and
• deserves to win the bid for GPS IIIF. Now that Boeing has dropped out of the running, it seems they probably have it. (The government has said it will announce the award in March 2019.)
Here is the GPS III SVs 1-10 Update:
SV 01. Declared “Available for Launch” (AFL) by the Air Force on Sept. 28, 2017. Awaiting “Call Up” for launch. A formal date has not been set. “Sometime this year” was the answer Lockheed Martin provided when asked a timeframe.
SV 02. Completed Thermal Vacuum (TVAC) testing, Dec. 2017. Currently in final environmental EMI (electromagnetic)/EMC (electromagnetic compatibility)/PIM (passive intermodulation) testing. AFL expected Summer 2018.
SV 03. Fully integrated, Fall 2017. Currently in TVAC testing, AFL expected. Spring 2019
Interview with Harris Corporation’s Jason Hendrix, PNT Program Director.
GPS World readers are familiar with the differences in the GPS III signals as compared to those transmitted by satellites to date. What are the differences in the GPS III satellite payloads that were instituted to enable those new signals?
The main difference is the power. The Air Force’s requirements called for significantly more anti-jamming capability. All the transmitters are a higher power.
What was the most significant obstacle (or top obstacles, plural) in designing and manufacturing this new payload, to new Air Force specifications? How did you overcome it/them?
Same answer really, the higher power. Keeping in mind, we went from a 7-year mission life requirement to a 15 year. That higher power puts more strain on components and new cyber requirements in software. When you couple all that together we are not just upgrading payload technology. It is really engineering a new set of payload requirements. It’s new generation, advanced.
What are the advantages of a digital payload over the alternative? When you say “Our current GPS payload is 70 percent digital” does that refer to the IIR payload? The offered “fully digital navigation payload with enhanced performance” — is that the GPS III payload? What’s the new 30 percent that has gone digital?
The advantages and the 30 percent difference are the timekeeping system portion. We’re moving from a manual, analog timing to digital to deliver to the Air Force more flexibility. It’s a nice option to have to be able to reprogram in orbit and maybe enhance capabilities desired in the future.
Can you provide any perspectives on how Harris is performing now in delivering payloads for SVs 1-10?
We’re now ahead of schedule. We delivered the 5th payload three weeks early (early March 2018). We are on time for 4 and three more are due this year.
Interview with Lockheed Martin’s Navigation Systems Mission Area Program Manager Johnathon Caldwell
Can you provide some general updates on assembly of GPS 1-10?
Photo: LMCO
Vehicle SV01: It is ready and we’re very excited about that. We defer to the Air Force on questions about launch date. But once they call it up we will install the solar panels and take it to a C-17. Then load it in the back of the plane and fly it down to Florida. We will then take it over to the vehicle processing facility and mate it up with the launch vehicle provider. The GNST – the satellite prototype -has gone to the Cape twice already. So, we have conducted a dry run for shipping SV 01.
Vehicle SV02: It has completed thermal vacuum testing – a major milestone. We’re in the last of the environmental tests. And we’re tracking to have that vehicle declared AFL this summer.
Vehicle SV03. It is fully integrated and is in the T-Vac chamber now. The door is closed and it’s going through tests. (Pump down to vacuum is achieved in approximately three hours and the total testing time is 70 days.)
Vehicle SV04: It is fully integrated on the floor. It is in its baseline electrical tests and will be in environmental tests as soon as 3 comes out of the chambers. It is staged to go in right after – 3.
Vehicle SV05: It is about to go through its integration to the propulsion core. And five has its navigation payload. Integrating it this summer.
Any changes in your production approach having completed SV01 that you are fixing in your production approach to SV02, 03 or 04?
No, the performance on Vehicle 01 was as designed there were no technical or design changes necessitated throughout the rest of the fleet. So, it was a very successful from that perspective – from the standpoint of validating the design and wringing it out, Vehicle 01 served its purpose well.
It had a very good T-Vac. I would say overall when you look at the industry, Vehicles 01 – 02, our vacuum test campaigns are the most rigorous test. Both went through their tests quite well. Some of the best I’ve seen.
We consider thermal vacuum the gold standard for testing any satellite before it goes into operations. It really is putting the craft through the paces. When it goes through the testing, the satellite is on. It is working. It is exposing it to the heat and the cold and the zero pressure while the satellite is functional. The entire thermal vac testing from start to end is a little over 70 days. “Test like you fly.” From the time it launches and deployment sequence we test it like it is real. Minus the shaking, the satellite thinks it is getting launched. Meanwhile, our people are looking at the data and its health. T Vac is a huge milestone for a satellite to go through it and come out without any issues. Which is why we are so pleased about the two.
Have there been any production delays since last year.
No, we’ve been quite stable in our production schedule.
Can you shed some light as to how many Lockheed Martin employees are involved in the production of GPS III?
The way we’re organized, there are engineers that flux in and out of the project depending the stage we’re in. This is production program, so we use the skillsets we need at the time we need them, then those engineers go on to do other work. But this also comes back to some of the commonality we’re trying to achieve across out product lines. That when you have common processes, common parts and common procedures in building spacecraft you gain leverage and major cost savings to have flex in resources.
Can you speak to any issues with subcontractors? Any delays?
No, since last year, the Harris production line has stabilized. We’ve been receiving Harris payloads, and we’ve just received the 5th payload and we’re finishing up integration. Vehicle 6 navigation payload is currently in test. And Vehicle 7 and 8 payload production is going according to schedule. We feel Harris has definitely overcome some of the challenges of the past. And we’ve been seeing stable production deliveries. By the end of this year we should receive 3 more payloads and by the first quarter of next year, the 8th, and they are contracted for 9 and 10.
From a civilian perspective, can you remind us what will be different with GPS III?
Three times better accuracy and up to eight times improved anti-jamming capabilities. And it is a longer life vehicle and healthy constellation of satellites that people can rely on. The new L1C signal is common with other GNSS, like Galileo, so as that becomes incorporated into equipment, it will give you more data points for better service, more accuracy and reliability.
For GPS IIIF requirements, are there capabilities that will require innovation or new technology?
We’ve designed with some of those capabilities in mind. If you just look down the list. The regional military protection is about bringing higher power and boosting the signal where the military needs it most. That’s not a particularly new technology per se, but it is bringing a new capability that the current GPS satellites don’t have.
The Search and Rescue payload, again, I wouldn’t consider it a new capability, it is provided by a partner nation, a Canadian company, but it effects those folks in need.
Digital payload. For 11+, fully digital payload for greater flexibility for the government. It allows the government to expand or enhance capabilities of the mission over time. It enables loading new software to do different things.
GPS III was designed with a modular, flexible architecture. Because Lockheed Martin knew that as time goes by, technology evolves. New technology becomes available and the government’s mission needs are likely to change.
Now that ability to evolve is down to the payload with a fully, 100 percent digital payload.
Lockheed Martin has been working on a lot of the GPSIII F design requirements already (preliminary design review level).
Can you speak to the other “Risk Retired” you mentioned in your slides?
Last fall, we had our first time with the OCX zero ground system. It’s one thing to talk to satellite in the high bay, it’s another thing to talk to it with the entire Air Force control network you plan to use when you’re operating. So, we were excited to get that done and run the entire chain from the vehicle out from the Air Force control network the AFCN network, utilizing the OCX system to command the vehicle. It was a big milestone for us. And previously we demonstrated our compatibility of our signals (with OCX).
Our future satellites in our GPS IIIF proposal share a common design with GPS III so they also will be compatible with OCX because we have proven that compatibility.
Can you speak to the GPS III Ground System Support Contracts Lockheed Martin has received?
The government asked us to help provide some gap fillers for the ground system (rmw note: if OCX isn’t there yet). To take the heritage AEP ground system and provide the ability to fly GPS III satellites using that ground system. So that activity has been going well and the critical design review has been completed and it is on track for delivery to the government next year. And subsequently, we were also put on contract for the M-code new signal to add some capabilities to the legacy ground system to begin to furnish early use of that new GPS III M-code signal to the military. We’ve been working hard on that. We conducted our preliminary design review last fall and just recently completed a critical design review to add that capability.
The ninth Workshop on Satellite Navigation Technologies, NAVITEC 2018, will be held Dec. 5-7 at the European Space Research and Technology Centre (ESTEC) in Noordwijk, the Netherlands.
The workshop, themed “Golden opportunities for PNT,” is organized by the Radio Navigation Systems Implementation & Verification Section of the Directorate of Technical and Quality Management, European Space Agency (ESA).
NAVITEC 2018 will include the GNSS Signals and Signal Processing Workshop in coordination with CNES, DLR and the University of the Federal Armed Forces Munich.
The aim of the workshop is to provide an open forum to space and terrestrial satellite navigation technology designers, developers, integrators, users, universities and agency representatives.
“We are now seeing an explosion of new applications using position and time,” stated an ESA event announcement. “People expect PNT to be available always and everywhere. Solutions require reliable service outdoors and indoors, high-accuracy and able to survive in challenging environments with new security threats. All this at ever lower prices. These solutions require innovative technologies such as integration with other sensors, cloud processing, low power technologies, all with the latest security measures.”
Participants will have the opportunity to share their technical expertise and experiences by formal presentations, informal discussions and round tables. The workshop will provide an overview of satellite navigation technologies that are available, or being developed, especially in the frame of current research and development programmes.
Scope and topics of interest
The scope of the workshop will include navigation equipment and techniques: receivers, payloads, signals, navigation algorithms, signal processing techniques and applications of GNSS (terrestrial and space).
A call for papers will be issued soon. The papers should describe new equipment developments and systems concepts, innovative technologies and designs, testing/validation procedures, linked to the topics that are listed below.
Mass-market GNSS/Galileo results
GNSS in IoT (low-power & snapshot processing)
Positioning and Timing for 5G
Cloud and collaborative positioning techniques and applications
Precise Positioning in challenging environments
Augmentation services
Interference, Spoofing and Authentication and Cyber Security
Helix Technologies Ltd. has been awarded a significant contract by the European Space Agency (ESA) to develop its next-generation GNSS antenna — a multi-frequency antenna optimized for the advanced Galileo E1 Alt-BOC and wide-band E5 Alt-BOC waveforms for use in driverless cars.
The antenna, to be developed under the ESA’s Navigation Innovation and Support Programme (NAVISP), will provide enhanced performance due to its dielectric, multi-filar construction. It will also be optimized to take maximum advantage of the Galileo E5 Alt-BOC waveform, which enables significantly improved measurement accuracy, precision and multipath suppression over conventional GNSS signals.
Learn more about the Helix Technologies antenna in our February issue article here.
“In order to achieve the 10-centimeter accuracy that is required for autonomous vehicle lane-level positioning within challenging urban multi-path propagation conditions, there is a need both for a significant improvement in current GNSS antenna performance and to fully exploit the advanced Alt-BOC waveforms transmitted by Galileo,” said John Yates, managing director of Helix Technologies.
The GNSS antenna, which will also be capable of optimized operation with the GPS L1 and L5 M BOC signals, is aimed at the automotive and consumer markets, and the company is targeting the third quarter of this year for the manufacture of prototypes.
Independent testing and evaluation of the vehicle-mounted antenna performance will be conducted in the challenging multipath environments of the high-rise financial districts of the cities of London and Shanghai.
EGNOS V3 will offer improved and secure Civil Aviation Safety of Life services for the next decade over Europe. The program will ensure a full continuity of service and will be the first operational SBAS using both GPS and Galileo.
Airbus has been selected by the European Space Agency (ESA) as the prime contractor to develop EGNOS V3, the next generation of the European Satellite Based Augmentation System (SBAS) planned to provide the civil aviation community with advanced safety-of-life services and new services to maritime and land users.
Developed by ESA on behalf of the European Commission and the European GNSS Agency (GSA), EGNOS V3 (European Geostationary Navigation Overlay Service) will provide augmented operational safety-of-life services over Europe that improve the accuracy and availability of user positioning services from existing GNSS (Galileo and GPS).
EGNOS also provides crucial integrity messages to EGNOS users with alerts within a few seconds in case of system degradation, consolidating EGNOS’ position as one of the leading edge GNSS systems in the future.
Besides improved safety-of-life services, EGNOS V3 will improve robustness against increasing security risk, in particular cyber-security risks.
EGNOS V3 will ensure a full continuity of service for the next decade and will be the first operational SBAS implementing the dual-frequency and multi-constellation world standard, with both GPS and Galileo, replacing EGNOS V2 which has been in operation since 2011.
“This programme is strategic for Airbus to strengthen our position in the Navigation field. The signature of this contract is the result of more than 5 years of intense team work and investment,” said Nicolas Chamussy, head of Space Systems at Airbus. “With our consortium, we bring a large pool of resources and experience in Europe covering the successful development of critical and secure ground segment. I am confident that we will make EGNOS V3 a success story.”
As prime contractor, Airbus will be leading a consortium with partners from France, Germany, Spain and Switzerland. Airbus will be responsible for the development, integration, deployment and preparation of EGNOS V3 operations, the overall performance of the system and the Central Processing Facility, which is the heart of the real-time navigation algorithms.
During the 6.5-year contract, around 100 people and 20 subcontractors will work on delivering the EGNOS V3 system. In 2023, the single-frequency version will be available to replace the current operational version and, 18 months later, the final version in dual frequency will be delivered.
EGNOS is composed of a large network of about 50 ground stations deployed over Europe, Africa and North America, two master control centers near Rome and Madrid, and a System Operation Support Centre in Toulouse. EGNOS will also use geostationary satellite navigation payloads.
The European Space Agency (ESA) held its annual Navigation Days on Jan. 26. ESA navigation specialists met with guests from the European Commission, European Global Navigation Satellite Systems Agency and European space companies at ESA’s technical centre in the Netherlands.
With Europe’s Galileo satellite navigation system only one launch away from full global coverage, representatives of the European space industry gathered at ESA’s centre in the Netherlands to discuss the transition towards the future Galileo Second Generation.
Galileo Initial Services began on Dec. 15, 2016, while the constellation in orbit has grown to 22 satellites. An Ariane 5 launch later this year of another quartet will bring the constellation to the point of completion with 24 satellites, plus two orbital spares.
A steady stream of orbital spares, ready to replace satellites reaching the end of their operational lives, is necessary to ensure Galileo continues operating seamlessly. A further 12 satellites were therefore ordered from industry in June 2017.
Paul Verhoef, director of the Galileo Programme addresses the audience at ESA’s annual Navigation Days, held Jan. 26. (Photo: ESA)
Looking further ahead, with the aim of keeping Galileo services as a permanent part of the European and global landscape, a replacement set of Galileo satellites will be required post-2020, serving as transition to a future generation.
The Galileo Second Generation is foreseen to offer improved performance and added features. This is why the European Commission has decided on a Transition Programme, with the European Space Agency (ESA) in charge of its technical definition and implementation.
Together with the European Commission and the European Global Navigation Satellite System Agency, the agency invited leading European space companies to its technical centre in Noordwijk for Navigation Days, held Jan. 26, to discuss Galileo’s future and present short-term plans in relation to this transition programme.
Having started with the ESA European Global Navigation Satellite System Evolutions Programme (EGEP), the system and technology development of Galileo Second Generation is being supported through the EU’s GNSS and Horizon 2020 HSNAV Programmes, with ESA being delegated its technical definition and management of its related implementation.
Eleven Phase-B contracts were signed at the meeting for the Design Phase for both the Galileo Second Generation and the Transition Programme, complementing the more than 50 technology contracts signed in 2017 to prepare for Galileo’s future.
In recent years, innovations have been analysed and predevelopments performed in various technology fields (system, ground, space, receiver technologies) in order to assess their suitability for future Galileo activities, while ensuring backward compatibility and continuity of Galileo Services.
In the next eight months, all major public and private stakeholders will be involved in the detailed assessment of the different evolution scenarios and associated technologies, in order to come to decisions on the Transition Programme baseline for the evolution towards Galileo Second Generation.
Rolls-Royce and the European Space Agency (ESA) have signed a cooperation agreement aimed at pursuing space activities in support of autonomous, remote-controlled shipping and promoting innovation in European digital logistics.
The collaboration with Rolls-Royce aims to study the applications of various space assets to autonomous shipping, such as satellite-based positioning, better situational awareness using Earth observation data, and satcom services for improved onboard connectivity. It aims to develop and validate new solutions for communication between vessel systems and shore-based systems in addition to ship-to-ship communication.
This will pave the way for the operation of commercial remote and autonomous shipping, innovative cargo logistics, smart ports and future commercial marine vessels.
The partnership will enable satellites to serve navigation, ship intelligence, marine operations, cargo logistics, maritime safety, healthcare, passenger and crew communications.
The next generation of 5G communications will rely on seamless integration of telecom networks and services, and ESA’s Satellite for 5G Initiative supports the technical and supply chain progress required, and will support development of 5G commercial services.
The Memorandum of Intent (MOI) forms part of ESA’s wider strategy. In its new navigation research and technology programme, called the Navigation Innovation and Support Programme (NAVISP), ESA is studying and testing technologies for smart ships.
NAVISP is investigating the integration of satellite navigation with non-space technologies and complementary positioning and communication techniques. NAVISP will apply ESA’s expertise from Galileo and EGNOS to new satellite navigation and, more widely, positioning, navigation and timing (PNT) challenges.
ESA already serves the maritime community with many satellite capabilities. SAT-AIS (Satellite Automatic Identification System) permits identification and global tracking of ships using cutting-edge space and ground technology, using low Earth orbiting satellites to act as information relays to serve the whole globe. This results in more efficient use of existing infrastructures, a tangible reduction in cost and a decrease in the environmental impact.
The ESA developed Sentinel-1 satellite, part of the European Union’s Copernicus programme, is establishing a pivotal role in the sector. Last August, Sentinel-1 Earth observation data helped the U.S. Coast Guard vessel Maple navigate through the legendary Northwest Passage, showcasing the enormous potential that satellite earth observation can have across the industry, particularly in ship-to-ship data transmission.
Rolls-Royce and ESA also plan to cooperate in harnessing the power of big data. Data analytics, Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence (AI) can improve operational efficiency, reliability and safety.
Sensor data will inform augmented and virtual realities, or “digital twins.” A digital twin is an AI copy of a ship, including its systems, that synthesises the information available about the ship in a hologram.
“It allows any aspect of an asset to be explored through a digital interface, creating a virtual test bench to assess the safety and performance of a vessel and its systems, both before its construction and through its lifecycle,” said Karno Tenovuo, SVP ship intelligence at Rolls-Royce. “By creating ships and ship technology in a virtual environment, new ideas and technology can be realized and tested in a shorter time frame.”
Europe’s next four Galileo navigation satellites are in place atop the Ariane 5, ready to be launched Dec. 12.
Liftoff from Europe’s Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana is scheduled for 18:36 GMT (19:36 CET, 15:36 local time), carrying Galileo satellites 19–22.
Four Galileo satellites seen before being encapsulated by the protective payload fairing on Dec. 7, completing the Ariane 5 for flight VA240, scheduled for Dec. 12.
Completion of Galileo’s Ariane 5 rocket took place in the Spaceport’s Final Assembly Building, following the arrival there of the quartet of satellites, already attached to the dispenser that will hold them in position during launch, then release them into their target 22 922 km-altitude orbit
Next, the satellites plus dispenser were placed atop the Ariane 5’s upper stage, after which the 14 m-long protective fairing was lowered over the Galileos — the last time they will be seen by human eyes. This fairing will protect them from the onrushing atmosphere during ascent.
The next step will be Monday’s rollout to the launch zone.
This mission will bring the Galileo system to 22 satellites. Initial Services began almost a year ago, on Dec. 15, 2016.
Next year’s launch of another quartet will bring the constellation of 24 satellites to completion, plus two orbital spares.
Galileo is Europe’s civil global satellite navigation system. It will allow users worldwide to know their exact position in time and space with great precision and reliability.
By Paul Verhoef
Director of the Galileo Programme and Navigation-related Activities,
European Space Agency
Paul Verhoef, director of the Galileo Programme. (Photo: ESA)
The European Space Agency (ESA) and the European GNSS Agency (GSA) are starting 2018 with the commissioning and In-Orbit Testing (IOT) of four new Galileo satellites.
This work is fairly routine for us as we have achieved the process successfully many times. But the impact of four new satellites for Galileo services is a different story.
This batch of satellites provided by OHB of Germany — 19, 20, 21 and 22 — will bring our constellation to 22 satellites. Together with the necessary ground segment delivered by Thales Alenia Space (TAS) and Airbus Defense and Space (ADS) and their many subcontractors throughout Europe, this will be providing availability to users anywhere in the world in order to achieve a high-quality position solution 99.8% of the time. “High quality” is hereby meant that the position dilution of precision (PDOP) will be smaller than 5, with our final accuracy for a full 24 FOC satellites operating at full potential being PDOP ~ 2.4.
This achievement will create a step change in the ability of service providers and equipment manufacturers to utilize the Galileo service. For all intents and purposes, it means the Galileo signal can always be relied upon to be there, and industry can sell products and design the power budget of devices based upon that fact.
Dual Frequency. The first mass-market GNSS receiver chip for smartphones and mobile devices that is able to utilize dual-frequency Galileo signals was released by Broadcom in September, able to employ both L1/E1 and L5/E5 signals. In 2018, dual-frequency technology like this will provide an order of magnitude increase in the performance of mobile device location-based services (LBS), especially in urban environments, and Broadcom advertises a 50% reduction in power consumption. The world of mobile-device LBS is going to change in 2018, and it will be due to the availability of Galileo.
It will not be the first time the partnership of ESA, the European Commission (EC) and the GSA has made a service available that has changed the nature of the marketplace. The GSA already has in service the ESA-designed EGNOS LPV200 aircraft approach service performing so well that countries like France have taken the decision to phase out the terrestrial Instrument Landing System that has burdened the capital expenditure budgets of airports in the past.
We have had discussions with several commercial organizations that are interested in building products around Galileo, and I am excited to see what they are going to come up with. With Galileo Initial Services the world had a new navigation signal to study and trial. In 2018 the world will have a new star to navigate by — well, a new constellation of 22 to 24 stars, I should say!
FOC. In the summer of 2018 we will launch the final part of the Galileo FOC constellation (geometrically speaking) with four more satellites taking us beyond the 24 needed for 100% coverage and minimum performance limitation from satellite geometry. The launch will also provide our first in-orbit spares, enabling us to plan for the end of life of our old validation phase satellites or otherwise supplement the constellation to improve performance.
What might we do with these in-orbit spares? Our first priority is to complete a constellation of 24 satellites in the correct orbits for minimum PDOP; as you know, a Fregat upper-stage malfunction left GSAT 0201 and 0202 in orbits too elliptical to correct fully, so the current plan is to complete the 24-satellite geometry. 0201 and 0202 are foreseen to be fully integrated in the Galileo operational system in 2018 following further testing and preparations, allowing us to have a 24+2 constellation with “hot back-up” from 0201 and 0202 contributing at around current GPS satellite levels of accuracy.
“It will not be the first — nor the last — time the partnership of ESA, the EC and the GSA has made a service available that has changed the nature of the marketplace.”
Of course, as is known to the community, the validation-phase satellite GSAT 0104 is down to single frequency, and we routinely monitor the health of all satellites. 0104 is the only satellite that has lost part of its function; designed-in redundancy has managed all other problems.
However, obviously we will be examining all options for deployment to ensure that the Galileo schedule is not impacted by in-orbit failures, and those we have experienced we have learned from and mitigated successfully without impacting the service.
The first two spares are not the end of our ability to maintain the constellation and our system performance. All four validation phase satellites will need to be replaced, and so the “Batch 3” satellite procurement will continue to regularly roll out satellites for replenishment of the constellation.
Enhancements. That won’t mean we will be resting on our laurels. In 2018 we also plan to release enhancements to the ground segment for Galileo, a process that will be a first as the system is already being operated by the GSA.
The process of managing an in-service upgrade program with the GSA is going to be new and challenging, but we have a strong engineering support team deployed as part of our working arrangement with the GSA to help ensure the process goes smoothly.
Of course, the need for GSA to be able to continue smooth operations imposes extra discipline and imposes on us a balance between stable operations and continued build-out of the infrastructure. We do not consider this to be a problem; on the contrary, the focus will be on robust operations and availability to the user.
Back at base (ESTEC in the Netherlands for Galileo and Toulouse, France, for EGNOS) we are full steam ahead on preparing the future. We are moving forward at considerable pace with our next-generation designs that develop new functionality for continuous service improvements.
Free PPP. Galileo was designed to broadcast a Commercial Service signal providing services such as precise point positioning to paying customers, but we are pleased to able to report that the EC has confirmed that this service will be provided for free by the European Union. In 2018/2019 the GSA will select the providers and get that unique, free service on the air.
In 2017 the EC confirmed the decision to implement the commercial service using E6-B with both encrypted and open components so all users could benefit for all frequency bands. Now, with the decision to make the service available free of charge, all users of Galileo, with the right type of receiver, will be able to achieve position fixes with an accuracy around 10 cm from Galileo’s first-generation constellation by 2020/2021.
The Galileo Public Regulated Service will also be a focus, with the EC soon to decide upon release dates for the first milestones on the service roadmap. The infrastructure and equipment to support a secure service is being put in place, and I can’t say more for security!
The next generation of European GNSS technology will include multi-constellation EGNOS, Galileo 2nd Generation (G2G) and a transition batch of satellites between the first and second generations to get the best technology proven in flight and working for Galileo users as soon as possible. G2G will reach its System Requirements Review stage in the first half of 2019. To be ready for that we are looking at:
clock technology and ensembles
inter satellite links
propulsion technology
flexible payloads and power allocation
5G telecoms networks standards and what we need to do ensure we provide the timing services those networks will need and new signals with time to first fix (TTFF) and power requirements for acquisition of signal that are compatible with 5G devices. Look out for a new pilot signal E1-D to move forward on this.
Open Service authentication and support for ARAIM (Advanced Receiver Autonomous Integrity Monitoring).
Finally, 2018 will see the first contract awards of the Navigation Innovation Support Programme. This is a programme specifically designed to encourage R&D, new concepts and new products and to ensure that 2018 is not the last time ESA with the EC and its industrial partners deploy a GNSS service for GSA to operate that changes the world.
High-altitude pseudo-satellites (HAPS) are platforms that float or fly at high altitude like conventional aircraft but operate more like satellites. (Image: ESA Earth Observation Graphics Bureau)
The European Space Agency (ESA) is considering extending its activities to a new region of the sky via a novel type of aerial vehicle, a missing link between drones and satellites.
High-altitude pseudo-satellites, or HAPS, are platforms that float or fly at high altitude like conventional aircraft but operate more like satellites — except that rather than working from space, they can remain in position inside the atmosphere for weeks or even months, offering continuous coverage of the territory below.
The best working altitude is about 20 kilometers, above the clouds and jet streams, and 10 kilometers above commercial airliners, where wind speeds are low enough for them to hold position for long periods.
From such a height they can survey the ground to the horizon 500 km away, variously enabling precise monitoring and surveillance, high-bandwidth communications or back up to existing satellite navigation services.
Several ESA directorates have teamed up to investigate their potential, explains future-systems specialist Antonio Ciccolella.
“For Earth observation, they could provide prolonged high-resolution coverage for priority regions, while for navigation and telecoms they could shrink blind spots in coverage and combine wide bandwidth with negligible signal delay,” Ciccolella said.
“ESA is looking into how these various domains can be best brought together.”
“We’ve been looking into the concept for the last 20 years but now finally it’s becoming reality,” explained Earth observation specialist Thorsten Fehr.
“That’s come about through the maturing of key technologies: miniaturised avionics, high-performance solar cells, lightweight batteries and harness, miniaturisation of Earth observation sensors and high-bandwidth communication links that can deliver competitively priced services.”
Navigation engineer Roberto Prieto Cerdeira added, “There’s obvious potential for emergency response. They could also be employed semi-permanently, perhaps extending satnav coverage into high, narrow valleys and cities.”
The QinetiQ-designed and Airbus-owned Zephyr-7 solar-powered unmanned aircraft holds the world flight endurance record at 14 days. (Photo: Airbus)
European companies have already unveiled product lines. For instance, Airbus has developed the winged, solar-powered Zephyr, which in 2010 achieved a world record 14 days of continuous flight without refuelling.
The Zephyr-S is designed to fly payloads of a few tens of kilograms for up to three months at a time, with secondary batteries employed to keep it powered and aloft overnight. A larger Zephyr-T version now in preparation will support larger payloads and power needs.
The first flight is projected for 2021 for Thales Alenia Space’s Stratobus airship. (Artist’s rendering: Thales Alenia Space/Briot)
Meanwhile, Thales Alenia Space is preparing the lighter-than-air Stratobus, with its first flight expected in 2021.
The buoyant Stratobus airship can carry up to 250 kilograms, its electric engines flying against the breeze to hold itself in position, relying on fuel cells at night.
Many other firms are also developing vehicles, payloads and services. Last month saw them gathered at ESA’s inaugural workshop, together with representatives of potential customers, including the European Defence Agency, Frontex — the EU agency tasked with Europe’s border management — and EU Copernicus environmental monitoring services.
Airbus’s double-tailed Zephyr-T variant HAPS aircraft is designed to support larger payloads, keeping them aloft for months at a time. (Image: Airbus)
“This was the first meeting of its kind in Europe, with more than 200 HAPS experts” explains Juan Lizarraga Cubillos, from ESA’s telecoms area.
“We heard from them on the needs, opportunities and critical issues within the field, particularly as a complement for existing satellite services, to start preparing a future ESA programme.”
ESA regards the vehicles as a valuable way of establishing applications that complement its satellites while also accelerating space technologies through early, high-altitude flight testing.
The point was also made that market acceptance of HAPS would come down to their efficiency and cost-effectiveness — and the best way to show that would be through demonstration projects.
“We have to fly them,” remarked Alvaro Rodriquez of the EU’s Satellite Centre. “The technology is there, all the ingredients are there, now it’s time to mix them into a nice recipe.”
Thales Alenia Space’s Stratobus is topped with solar panels, powering its propellers to fly against the wind at 20 km for prolonged periods of service. (Image: Airbus)
