Author Archives: Galileo GNSS

Problem behind failing clocks identified

Galileo launch 8 (17-11-2016)

Galileo launch 8 (17-11-2016)

Investigators have uncovered the problems behind the failure of atomic clocks onboard Galileo satellites, the European Commission said.

For months, the European Space Agency has been investigating the reasons behind failing clocks onboard some of the 18 Galileo navigation satellites.

Each Galileo satellite has four ultra-accurate atomic timekeepers, two that use rubidium and two hydrogen maser. But a satellite needs just one working clock for the satnav to wor, the rest are spares. Read more…

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Another eight Galileo satellites for Europe

Signing the contract to build another 8 Galileo satellites

Signing the contract to build another 8 Galileo satellites

Europe’s Galileo navigation constellation will gain an additional eight satellites, bringing it to completion, thanks to a contract signed at the Paris Air and Space Show.

The contract to build and test another eight Galileo satellites was awarded to a consortium led by prime contractor OHB, with Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd overseeing their navigation platforms.

This is the third such satellite signing: the first four In Orbit Validation satellites were built by a consortium led by Airbus Defence and Space, while production of the next 22 Full Operational Capability (FOC) satellites was led by OHB.

These new batch satellites are based on the already qualified design of the previous Galileo FOC satellites, except for changes on the unit level – such as improvements based on lessons learned and reacting to obsolescence of parts.

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Galileo provides healthy signals 97.33 percent of the time

Signal in Space Ranging Error (SISE) of the Galileo constellation from 2014 to the present.

SISE of the Galileo constellation from 2014 to the present.

Europe’s Galileo satellite navigation system has undergone its first performance report since it started work at the end of last year, and it passed with flying colors.

The European GNSS Agency, GSA has published the first of its regular quarterly performance reports on Galileo. This European GNSS (Galileo) Initial Services Open Service report, now available online, covers the first three months of 2017 and documents the good performance of Galileo Initial Services to date.

The report shows the 11 satellites then operating in the Galileo constellation were able to provide healthy signals 97.33 percent of the time on a per satellite basis, with a ranging accuracy better than 1.07 m and disseminating global UTC time within its signal to within 30 billionths of a second on a 95 percentile monthly basis. Read more…

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First GNSS IS OS quarterly performance report now available

open service quarterly performance report. Q1 2017The European GNSS Agency (GSA) has published its first Galileo Initial Services Open Service (IS OS) quarterly performance report.

Following the Declaration of Initial Services in December 2016, the GSA will publish a new Galileo IS OS report after each quarter. These quarterly reports aim to provide the public with the latest information on the Galileo Open Service’s performance. Read more…

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Two More Satellites Formally Added to Galileo’s Satnav System

Galileo satellite in orbit

Galileo satellite in orbit

Two further satellites, GSAT0207 (SV ID 07) and GSAT0214 (SV ID 05), increasing the total number to 16, have formally become part of Europe’s Galileo satnav system, broadcasting timing and navigation signals worldwide while also picking up distress calls across the planet.

These are the 15th and 16th satellites to join the network, two of the four Galileos that were launched together by Ariane 5 last November (images), and the first additions to the working constellation since the start of Galileo Initial Services in December. Read more…

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ESNC Special Prizes Searching Secure Services

ESA_DLR-and-BMVI_2017Reliability is key in countless fields. Especially, the space sector and its multiple application fields are constantly in demand of reliable services and products. These ensure increased security for positioning, navigation and our digital society – and they must be qualified for the harshest environments on Earth and beyond. Galileo together with its exclusive service specifically dedicated to security, Galileo Public Regulated Service (PRS), is the dependable service reaching out to new, ground-breaking applications. Read more…

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Winners of the European Inventor Award 2017 – Radio signals for better satellite navigation

Galileo_team_EIA17Space-based radio navigation positioning has made significant strides in recent decades. It is now poised to make a greater leap thanks to Galileo, Europe’s global navigation satellite system (GNSS). Signalling technology developed by a team of European engineers not only helps Galileo deliver better accuracy and clear up signal clutter; it also pushes satellite navigation and its features to the next level.

A European team, led by French engineer Laurent Lestarquit and his Spanish colleague José Ángel Ávila Rodríguez and including German Günter Hein and Belgian Lionel Ries, has a unique specialism: sending clear signals from space. A virtual cacophony of radio frequencies is sent down to earth from the more than 50 navigation positioning satellites currently in orbit – including those of the US-led Global Positioning System (GPS), Russia’s Global Navigation Satellite System (GLONASS) and more recently Europe’s Galileo system. This team has helped ensure that signals do not interfere with each other, and that users and developers alike will be able to profit from the next-generation positioning technology that Galileo offers.

The team’s contribution of modulation and spread-spectrum signal technologies forms one of the joint European satellite positioning system’s core components, delivering signals that enhance accuracy, save on satellite power and ensure interoperability with GLONASS and the current GPS and its possible upgrades. Read more…

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