GALILEO UPDATE

Qualcomm supports Galileo

Qualcomm is supporting the Galileo GNSS with its chipsets and Snapdragon mobile processors. Until now Qualcomm’s hardware support for Galileo was in selected chipsets only.

The Qualcomm IZat location services platform will connect with up to six satellite constellations which means more than 80 different satellites can be used when calculating global position for navigation or location-based applications.

This is intended to help manufacturers in implementing an important component of the European eCall mandate ahead of the March 2018 deadline.

Galileo will be supported on smartphones and compute devices with the appropriate software release on Snapdragon 820, 652, 650, 625, 617, and 435 processors, automotive infotainment solutions utilizing Snapdragon 820A, and telematics and IoT solutions with Snapdragon X16, X12, X7, and X5 LTE Modems, and 9×15 and MDM6x00 modems. www.electronicsweekly.com

Four-satellite Galileo Ariane 5 dispenser in place

Following rigorous testing in France and Germany, a new type of dispenser designed to carry four navigation satellites into orbit at once is now in French Guiana, in place for Galileo’s first Ariane 5 launch later this year.

The dispenser is an essential element of launch success, with a double role to play. It first must hold the quartet of satellites securely in place during the stresses of liftoff, and then the nearly fourhour long flight to medium-Earth orbit. Then, once the Ariane 5 EPS upper stage reaches its target altitude of 23,222 kilometers, the dispenser will release the four Galileo satellites using a pyrotechnic release system triggered by separate igniters, each one firing half a second after the other.

The separated satellites are then pushed away from the dispenser in separate directions using a spring-based distancing system.

The 447-kilogram dispenser, designed by Airbus Defence and Space, must support a satellite mass of 738 kilograms each – nearly three tons total.

Made from a combination of metal and composite materials for maximum stiffness, the dispenser has undergone very comprehensive testing at Airbus Defence and Space near Bordeaux, France, and the IABG testing centre in Ottobrunn, Germany – using both Galileo engineering models and an actual fl ight satellite, including fit, shock and separation testing.

GSA sets up Galileo Reference Center

Officials signed an agreement recently to build a Galileo Reference Center in Noordwijk, the Netherlands, just across the road from The European Space Agency’s European Space Research and Technology Center (ESA/ESTEC).

The Galileo Reference Center (GRC), to be administered by the European GNSS Agency (GSA), will monitor and assess the quality of the delivery of Galileo services, i.e., the performance of the Galileo Service Operator. The GSA is currently selecting said service operator through an arduous tender process.