Monthly Archives: April 2018

The path to high GNSS accuracy

For fully autonomous driving to become reality, several technologies will have to reach maturity and be rolled out in concert. One of them is affordable, scalable, and reliable high precision positioning.

The past decades have seen substantial improvements in the performance of Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) technology. In the early 2000s, the time it took to get a first accurate position went from minutes to under thirty seconds. In the latter half of the decade, receiver sensitivity improved dramatically – from -130 dBm to -167 dBm. By 2015, the number of functional positioning satellite constellations had gone from one global constellation in 2000 (the USA’s GPS) to four (GPS, GLONASS, BeiDou, and Galileo). This opened the doors to multi-constellation GNSS receivers. The satellite signals, too, have been modernized, and as of 2018, multi-band GNSS will become affordable. These advances set the stage for the next big theme in GNSS: achieving decimeter- or centimeter-level accuracy. Read more…

2 Replies

Space travel: What happens to the human body?

Astronaut Scott Kelly has spent a total of 520 days in space in his lifetime

Astronaut Scott Kelly has spent a total of 520 days in space in his lifetime

Space is a dangerous and unforgiving place, and spending time away from gravity takes its toll on the human body, as many astronauts have found out after returning to Earth.

But what exactly are the risks?

Japanese astronaut Norishige Kanai this week may have briefly grabbed news headlines by announcing he had stretched a staggering 9cm in just three weeks onboard the International Space Station (ISS).

He later admitted he had miscalculated the figure and it was actually just 2cm, but significant height changes are actually normal for astronauts spending time in space. Read more…

Leave a reply

GRICAS, solution for aeronautical search & rescue

GRICASImagine the following: a technical incident occurs on a long-haul commercial flight. The aircraft’s computer identifies the root cause of the problem and activates a distress beacon while the plane is still en route. It sends out a distress signal, picked up by the special payloads on certain navigation satellites (including Galileo), which retransmit these signals to a ground station, called the Local User Terminal (LUT). This terminal receives and processes the warning message, calculates the position of the transmitter based on certain characteristics of the received signal, and sends this data to the Mission Control Center. The MCC then passes on this information to Rescue Coordination Centers (RCC), which are in charge of launching rescue operations by calling on the appropriate organizations. In other words, while the aircraft is still in flight, the entire rescue process is already set up. Read more…

Leave a reply

Arianespace is well suited to the needs of EU institutions

Stéphane Israël, CEO of Arianespace

Stéphane Israël, CEO of Arianespace

By Stéphane Israël*:

Arianespace is well suited to the needs of Europe’s institutions, writes Stéphane Israël.

With 37 years of satellite launches, Arianespace is a shining example of a European success story. While the company has become the world’s reference for commercial space transportation services, its primary objective remains to provide Europe with a reliable, affordable and independent access to space.

With its family of three launchers from the European space port, the heavyweight vehicle Ariane 5, the medium Soyuz and the light Vega, Arianespace is well suited to the needs of European institutions.  Read more…

Leave a reply

Leonardo chosen by ESA as cyber security partner for Galileo

Leonardo chosen by ESA as cyber security partner for GalileoAt the Cybertech Europe conference in Rome, Leonardo announced that the company has been chosen by the European Space Agency (ESA) to conduct a study into the management of data security for the Galileo programme. Leonardo will develop a benchmark architecture and define requirements and processes for managing the programme’s information security, in accordance with recent European cyber regulations.

Leonardo’s aim is to support the ESA by defining a state-of-the-art security monitoring system for Galileo, taking into account new mission requirements and new security standards and procedures relevant to the European satellite network. Read more…

Leave a reply

ESA proves new technologies to power future launchers

Expander-cycle Technology Integrated Demonstrator

Expander-cycle Technology Integrated Demonstrator

A full-scale demonstrator of the thrust chamber for an upper-stage rocket engine incorporating the newest propulsion technologies is being prepared for its first hot firing.

The Expander-cycle Technology Integrated Demonstrator, or ETID, has arrived at the DLR German Aerospace Center test facility in Lampoldshausen for tests. It will help to prove new technologies, materials and manufacturing techniques that offer higher performance at lower cost for Europe’s future launchers.

ETID is a precursor of the next generation of 10-tonne rocket engines. Some of the technologies could also be used on upgrades to the existing Vinci, which powers the upper stage of Ariane 6. Read more…

Leave a reply

Towards a more connected society and economy

Carlo des Dorides, Executive Director of the European GNSS Agency (GSA)

Carlo des Dorides, Executive Director of the European GNSS Agency (GSA)

By Carlo des Dorides*:

Space has a key role to play in ensuring a prosperous and socially-inclusive Europe, writes Carlo des Dorides.

The world in which we live, and the role that space plays in this world, is changing fast. Smartphones are now ubiquitous, not just in Europe and the rest of the developed world, but in developing countries also. And where the smartphone goes, the internet goes too, even if the way in which it is delivered may differ.

This so-called ‘connected society’ has two core components – communication and content. As the Executive Director of the European GNSS agency (GSA), I am naturally more focused on the former, but the latter is just as important, and the two go hand in hand. Read more…

Leave a reply