Welcoming the adoption of the Galileo Commercial Service Implementing Decision, the European Commission and the GSA confirm that the first generation of Galileo will provide users with High Accuracy and Authentication services. The Commercial Service will complement the Galileo Open Service by providing an additional navigation signal and added-value services in a different frequency band. Unlike the Open Service, the Commercial Service signal can be encrypted in order to control access to Galileo Commercial Services.

“The Commercial Service is unique in that its services are not provided by any other GNSS programme and thus represents a unique opportunity for Galileo to differentiate itself from other systems and offer users an added value to the standard positioning services already available,” says GSA Executive Director Carlo des Dorides.

With the Commercial Service, Galileo users will benefit from:

• a High Accuracy service based on the transmission of Precise Point Positioning (PPP) information through its E6-B signal, delivering accuracy below one decimetre worldwide
• a Commercial Authentication service based on the E6 signal code encryption, allowing for increased robustness of professional applications.

Following the Commercial Service Implementing Decision, the user community will also be able to use the Open Service Navigation Message Authentication (OS NMA) for free. The OS NMA is capable of protecting users from spoofing attacks by digitally signing the Open Service message in the E1 band.

“Galileo’s High Accuracy and Authentication services, including NMA, take advantage of already existing infrastructure,” explains European Commission Galileo Commercial Service Manager Ignacio Fernández Hernández. “This is why they can be provided in a timely and cost-effective manner, yet with very good performance.”

It is foreseen that the High Accuracy and Commercial Authentication services will be provided for a fee, and that at least one signal component of the Galileo E6 signals remains freely available, allowing user communities to benefit from signals in all Galileo bands.

To avoid disrupting existing professional markets, it is planned that the Commercial Service will be operated by at least one yet-to-be-determined commercial service provider. All three services are compatible with the current signal definition and are based on existing infrastructure.

After a test period, the Galileo Commercial Service will become available when Galileo reaches Full Operational Capability (FOC), which is expected by 2020. It will complement the Galileo Open Service, Public Regulated Service (PRS) and Search and Rescue (SAR) service – all available now via the Galileo Initial Services. Additional satellites will be successively added to the constellation, with the launch of the next four foreseen in 2017.