Galileo Update

Galileo interoperability with GPS

ESA’s first two Galileo navigation satellites in space have achieved their latest milestone, transmitting dummy signals in a modulation scheme designed to allow full interoperability with the US GPS once operational services start.

“This is an advanced modulation technique that offers robust protection against signal interference and the misleading signal refl ections known as ‘multipath’,” said Marco Falcone, Head of Galileo System Services.

“Significantly, this is also the European version of the Multiplexed Binary Offset Code signal standard agreed with the United States for the interoperability of Galileo and GPS.

“So this transmission helps demonstrate how the two systems will work together in future with no risk of signal interference.” http://www.esa.int

EU boosts GPS accuracy with web-based service

European Commission vice president Antonio Tajanihas unveiled a new service intended to make satellite data more reliable. The European Data Access Service (EDAS) will make data from the European Geostationary Navigation Overlay Service (EGNOS) available on the Internet. As a result, people will be able to access this GPS data from hand-held devices, Tajanisaid, improving the accuracy of things like high-precision fertiliser spraying, automatic road-tolling, fl eet management, inland waterway navigation, dangerous goods transportation or accurate area measurement. http://www.pcmag.com

ESA… GIOVE-B going soon

ESA’s GIOVE-B experimental navigation satellite is gradually raising its orbit as it prepares for well-earned retirement at the end of its four-year mission paving the way for Europe’s Galileo constellation. Recently, an initial thruster firing raised GIOVE-B’s orbit by about 30km. This will be followed by others soon so that by mid-August the satellite will be in a graveyard orbit some 600km above its original 23,222km orbit. http://www.satnews.com

ESA extends its navigation lab in readiness for galileo testing

With the next Galileo launch approaching, ESA has extended its Radio Navigation Laboratory to meet the testing needs of Galileo. Located at ESA’s ESTEC technical centre in Noordwijk, the Netherlands, the laboratory has almost doubled in size, and includes a specialised facility, the PRS Laboratory, suitable for evaluating the single most precise and secure type of Galileo signal, the Public Regulated Service (PRS).

Transmitted on two encrypted signals, PRS offers the highest accuracy Galileo service, with access reserved for governmental organisation such as the police, fire brigade or civil protection. http://www.spacedaily.com