Galileo is a state of the art navigation system with unique features not found in any other system.
Operational since 2016, it’s designed to offer free of charge commercial, mass market, governmental and search and rescue services.
But one of the greatest challenges to entrepreneurs is taking advantage of the great business opportunities it offers.
One company that has is Septentrio, a Belgian SME that directly participated in the development of Galileo.
Founded in 2000, it designs and manufactures receivers that use Galileo signals in an impressive number of applications: not only drones, capable of can give accurate measurements to the nearest centimetre, but also earthquake early warning systems and in the construction and mining sector.
“When I am saying that Galileo is the best system in the world, I am talking about the most accurate system, but also the most secured system. When I want a position in a self-driving car, I want to be absolutely certain that it’s the correct position.” Antoon de Proft, CEO – Septentrio
Free data, that combines with other navigation systems is a unique dynamic that this SME benefits from.
Septentrio is now growing about 30-40% per year and has recently opened offices in Japan and China.
Galileo has a global market of more than 120 billion that is expected to double in the next five years.
With 6 billion devices in use worldwide today and an expected 8 billion by 2020, there will soon be more devices than people.
Facts
- Galileo is the EU’s global satellite navigation system. It is gradually providing more accurate and reliable positioning and timing information that can be used in many sectors, such as autonomous and connected vehicles, aviation and drones, railways and agriculture, ships and Internet of Things (IoT).
- In 2016, Galileo started providing initial services. For the first time ever, users around the world can be guided using the positioning, navigation and timing information provided by Galileo’s global satellite constellation.
- Galileo’s Search and Rescue service reduces the time it takes to detect emergency distress beacon signals from up to three hours to just ten minutes. Thanks to this service, people in distress, whether at sea or in the mountains, can be rescued more quickly.
- A number of companies and innovative start-ups are using satellite data and enabling their applications to benefit from EU space programmes.
- Septentrio is a Belgian SME designing and manufacturing high-end professional receivers.
- They have taken part in a number of EU funded projects focused on Galileo, such as the FANTASTIC project that aims to develop a new multi GNSS receiver.