GNSS

Arianespace to launch 8 new Galileo satellites

The European Union Agency for the Space Programme (EUSPA) has chosen Arianespace to launch four new Galileo satellites. With this order, EUSPA takes over the role of placing launch services contracts for Galileo from ESA, which acted so far in the name and on behalf of the European Commission and will continue to be the technical authority for these launches. This order follows European Space Agency’s (ESA) order for the launch of four satellites in October 2021, and will complete the deployment of first-generation Galileo satellites. www.arianespace.com

Arianespace Soyuz rocket launches two Galileo satellites

Arianespace successfully launched another two satellites for Europe’s Galileo satellite navigation system. The FOC-M9 (23-24) and SAT 27-28 payloads lifted off on a Soyuz rocket from French Guiana. This was the 11th launch for the constellation by Arianespace, which has now orbited 28 satellites, including 4 IOV, for Galileo.

Info Note on the Galileo Open Service Navigation Message Authentication available

The European Union Agency for the Space Programme has published a 41-page Info Note on the Galileo Open Service Navigation Message Authentication (OSNMA).

Following publication of the Info Note, an OSNMA Public Observation Test Phase now gets underway. The Test Phase will allow any interested users to access the OSNMA Signal In Space (SIS) and related products for testing purposes.

Target users for OSNMA are receiver manufacturers, application developers, members of research institutions, or similar. EUSPA and the European Commission will consider users’ feedback for future OSNMA service phases. The OSNMA service is an authentication mechanism that allows Open Service users to verify the authenticity of GNSS information, making sure that the data they receive is indeed from Galileo and has not been modified in any way. It is an open-access and free-ofcharge service, based on the provision of cryptographic data by the Galileo E1 signal (E1-B, data component) from a subset of the Galileo satellites, enabling receivers to authenticate the Open Service navigation messages.

OSNMA is authenticating data for geolocation information from the Open Service through the Navigation Message (I/NAV) broadcast on the E1-B signal component. This is realised by transmitting authentication-specific data in previously reserved fields of the E1 I/NAV message. By using these previously reserved fields, OSNMA does not introduce any overlay to the system, thus the OS navigation performance remains untouched. www.gsc-europa.eu

Last Glonass-M satellite to be ready for launch in March 2022

The last Glonass-M navigation satellite will be ready for a launch in March 2022, according to a source in Russia’s space industry. The first navigation satellite of the new generation Glonass-K may be launched in the middle of the second quarter of 2022. https://tass.com

Euroconsult releases “Government Space Programs” report for 2021

Space consulting and market intelligence firm Euroconsult has released its “Government Space Programs” report for 2021. The highlight of this year’s findings is a continued, even accelerated, volume of governmental investment in the space sector, driven by two major drivers: ambitious space exploration programmes by leading space countries, and rivalries driving the militarization of space.

Despite a year of uncertainty, the space sector has received record government investment totaling over $92 Billion, an 8% increase compared to 2020. Civilian space budgets, totaling $53 billion in 2021, continue to receive more funding than defense space programs, at 58% of total spending, though the share going to defense, $39 billion in 2021, is increasing. Geopolitical tensions, increasing rivalry between leading space powers, and the value of space as the ultimate high ground drive the militarization of space trend, with leaders increasing their investments in defense space assets and technologies.

This year’s edition of the report takes a close look at the surge of public funding intended to shore up the space industry against the economic repercussions of the COVID-19 pandemic. Government Space Programs 2021 provides details on national space programmes’ spending priorities as well as two potential 10 year forecast scenarios, digested into negative and optimistic models.

Sequans introduces low-power GNSS positioning capability

Sequans Communications S.A has announced the availability of low-power GNSS positioning capability on its Monarch 2 LTE-M/NB-IoT platform. The integrated GNSS solution offers Sequans’ IoT customers accurate positioning with lower power consumption, removing the need of an external positioning chipset for an overall higher performing, lower cost tracking solution. www.sequans.com

Affordable high precision GNSS module

Quectel Wireless Solutions and Point One Navigation recently announced the LG69T-AM, the latest addition to the LG69T GNSS Module Series. Point One’s positioning engine powers the LG69TAM and enables cm-level global accuracy by integrating augmented GNSS in an affordable module with open-source API. The LG69T-AM GNSS module features STMicroelectronics› TeseoV positioning receiver platform with 80 tracking and 4 fast acquisition channels compatible with GPS, GLONASS, Galileo, BeiDou, QZSS and NAVIC. quectel.com