Author Archives: Galileo GNSS

Galileo maritime trial route

Results are being processed from the first Galileo maritime trials outside of mainland Europe. The long-range, high-latitude testing spanned the North Sea, following the same historical sailing route that Viking dragon-ships used 1200 years ago.

The Belgian frigate Leopold I-F930  during the first high-latitude trials of Europe’s Galileo satellite navigation system sailed first from the Dutch marine base of Den Helder on 4 December 2013 to Stavanger in Norway. From there it progressed north in very rough seas with 10-m high waves, coming close to the Arctic circle on 17 December (a first for Galileo PRS observations) before heading homeward. Read more…

Galileo satellite departure to Europe’s Spaceport

The departure of the Galileo satellites from ESA’s test centre in the Netherlands  took place on 5 May. Here is a picture of that moment. After several months of testing, this latest full-capability Galileo navigation satellite left along with its twin.

Galileo satellite departure from ESTEC

Galileo satellite departure from ESTEC

Both satellites were loaded aboard trucks to be driven to Frankfurt Airport in Germany. From there, they were flown to Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana the following evening where they will be launched together by a Soyuz later this summer. Read more…

Next Galileo satellites arrive at Europe’s Spaceport

Europe’s two latest Galileo navigation satellites touched down on 7-May at Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana, ready for their joint launch this summer.

Galileo satellites unloaded from the Boeing 747

Galileo satellites unloaded from the Boeing 747

Packed safely within protective and environmentally controlled containers, the satellites were carried across the Atlantic aboard a Boeing 747 cargo carrier. Read more…

Alternative Complementary GNSS Systems shown to be Essential

In an unprecedented disruption of an operational GNSS constellation, all 24 satellites in the Russian GLONASS broadcast corrupt information for 11 hours starting at 21 UTC on 2 April. This rendered the system completely unusable to all worldwide GLONASS receivers.

The Russian GLONASS monitoring center showed satellites in unhealthy statuses: “failure” and “illegal ephemeris.” Because the failure was systemwide and simultaneous, some have speculated that an incorrect uploading of corrections to satellite ephermerides (orbital positions) occurred. Read more…

EU GNSS Research and Technology Development Workshop

The workshop on European Global Satellite System (GNSS) Research and Technology Development (RTD) will be organised by the European Commission in collaboration with the European Space Agency (ESA) and the European GNSS Agency (GSA).

This event is being held to consult stakeholders of the European GNSS community on RTD areas of potential interest to be funded under Horizon 2020 in the period 2015-2020. Read more…

European Space Solutions Conference 2014

The European GNSS Agency (GSA) and the European Commission invite you to attend the third annual European Space Solutions conference schedule for 11 – 13 June in Prague.

European Space Solution Conference 2014

Business leaders, research professionals, European officials and application developers will gather together to discuss the impact space has on the lives of people across Europe and around the globe. The three day conference will take place at the Prague Conference Centre and will be accompanied by the travelling European Space Expo, an interactive exhibition showcasing the many benefits of such EU space programmes as EGNOS and Galileo. Read more…