Category Archives: Galileo Services

Galileo Services

Galileo Initial Service recovery actions underway

A team of experts European GNSS Agency, industry, the European Space Agency and the European Commission is currently implementing and monitoring recovery actions for an incident related to the Galileo ground infrastructure that resulted in a temporary interruption of the Galileo Initial Services. The key objective is to restore the Galileo navigation and timing services for users as soon as possible.

Galileo service update, NAGU2019026

On 12 July, Galileo initial navigation and timing services were interrupted temporarily. The Galileo Search and Rescue service remains operational. Read more…

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Temporary interruption of Galileo initial navigation and timing services

Galileo is currently affected by a technical incident related to its ground infrastructure. The incident has led to a temporary interruption of the Galileo initial navigation and timing services, with the exception of the Galileo Search and Rescue (SAR) service. The SAR service – used for locating and helping people in distress situations for example at sea or mountains – is unaffected and remains operational.

Galileo service update

Galileo provides ‘initial services’ since December 2016. During this initial “pilot” phase preceding the ‘full operational services’ phase, Galileo signals are used in combination with other satellite navigation systems, which allows for the detection of technical issues before the system becomes fully operational. Read more…

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Four more Galileo satellites transmitting navigation signals

Galileo Satellites GSAT0215, GSAT0216, GSAT0217, and GSAT0218, launched in December 2017, have been commissioned for operational use.

Last four Galileo satellites usable for service provision

Since October 12, all Galileo satellites that were launched December last year are usable for service provision. NAGUs 2018023, 2018019, 2018020 and 2018018 announced the commissioning of Galileo satellites GSAT0215 (E21), GSAT0216 (E25), GSAT02017 (E27) and GSAT0218 (E31), increasing the number of satellites that are available for service provision to 18. Read more…

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How many Galileo satellites are now in orbit?

On July 25 four more Galileo satellites were successfully launched from the European spaceport in French Guiana on the European launcher Ariane 5. Now with a constellation of 26 satellites, the EU’s global satellite navigation system will provide a more precise signal across a range of valuable services.

Galileo has been providing positioning and timing services to around 400 million users since December 2016. This launch brings the constellation close to completion in 2020, which is when Galileo will reach full operational capability. Once complete and with a record precision of 20cm, Galileo will be the most precise satellite navigation system in the world. Read more…

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GSA supporting development of all PRS user segments

Deployment of the Galileo Public Regulated Service (PRS) has been ongoing in recent years and the European GNSS Agency (GSA) has been actively contributing to the development of all user segments to ensure the widespread uptake of the service. GSA PRS Service Manager Charles Villie gave participants in the Munich Satellite Navigation Summit on March 7 a status update on the Galileo PRS and outlined plans for the future.

GSA supporting development of all PRS user segments

The Galileo PRS is an encrypted navigation service that is designed to be more resistant to jamming, involuntary interference and spoofing than other services. The launch of Galileo initial services at the end of 2016 also marked the start of the initial Galileo PRS service phase, during which receivers are being tested and all declared PRS functionalities and infrastructure are functional and operational. Read more…

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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…

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EU relocates GSMC facility to Spain

A scientist works on the Galileo satellite system

A scientist works on the Galileo satellite system

A part of the infrastructure for the Galileo satellite system will be relocated from the Britain to Spain because of the UK’s departure from the EU, the European Commission has announced.

The back-up Galileo security monitoring centre for Galileo was originally awarded to London in 2010 after a competitive process.

The centre, which was due to become fully operational later this year, controls access to the satellite system and provides around-the-clock monitoring of it when the main security centre, near Paris, is offline. Read more…

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