The in-orbit validation (IOV) of Galileo has been achieved: Europe now has the operational nucleus of its own satellite navigation constellation in place, the world’s first civil-owned and operated satnav system.
In 2011 and 2012 the first four satellites were launched into orbit. These satellites were combined with a growing global ground infrastructure to allow the project to undergo its crucial IOV phase. Read more…
Regulation (EU) 1285/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council lays down the rules in relation to the implementation and exploitation of European Satellite Navigation Systems, applicable since 1 January 2014, has been published in the official journal of the European Union. Read more…
Galileo support to Search and Rescue Service (SAR/Galileo) represents the contribution of Europe to the international COSPAS-SARSAT co-operative effort on humanitarian Search and Rescue activities.
Operational use of Cospas-Sarsat by SAR agencies started with the crash of a light aircraft in Canada, in which three people were rescued (September 10, 1982). Since then, the System has been used for thousands of SAR events and has been instrumental in the rescue of over 33,000 lives worldwide. Read more…
The completion of a pair of dedicated ground stations (Medium-Earth Orbit Local User Terminal, Meolut) at opposite ends of Europe has enabled Galileo satellites in orbit to participate in global testing of the Cospas–Sarsat search and rescue system.
The Maspalomas station, at the southern end of the largest island of the Canary Islands, was activated in June and this last month has seen the Svalbard site on Spitsbergen in the Norwegian Arctic come on line. Read more…
Galileo runs on Galileo System Time (GST), which is under responsibility of the Galileo Mission Segment (GMS). GST is fixed on the ground at the Galileo Control Centre in Fucino (Italy) by the Precise Timing Facility (PTF), based on the average of different atomic clocks. Read more…
PRS (Public Regulated Service) is designed to provide position and timing to specific and authorized users requiring a high continuity of service using encrypted data. Typical PRS user will be organizations involved in public safety and security (police, fire fighters, health services, coast guards, etc.). Read more…
Galileo, once fully operational, will offer four high-performance services worldwide:
Open Service (OS) Galileo open and free of charge service set up for positioning and timing services.
Galileo High Accuracy Service (HAS): Formerly known as Galileo Commercial Service (CS). A service complementing theOS by providing an additional navigation signal and added-value services in a different frequency band. The HAS signal can be encrypted in order to control the access to the Galileo HAS services.
Public Regulated Service (PRS) Service restricted to government-authorised users, for sensitive applications that require a high level of service continuity.
Search and Rescue Service (SAR) Galileo will be an important element of MEOSAR (Medium Earth Orbit Search and Rescue system), and thus a key contributor to Cospas-Sarsat, the international satellite-based search and rescue distress alert detection and information distribution system. Galileo satellites will receive emergency beacons carried on ships, planes or people and send them back to national rescue centres. Also a feedback to a beacon could be sent, being this exclusive with Galileo.