GNSS

EASA publishes SIB to warn of intermittent GNSS outages near Ukraine conflict areas

The European Union Aviation Safety Agency has published a Safety Information Bulletin (SIB) warning of the increased probability of problems with GNSS in the current context of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

The SIB proposes mitigation actions to be taken by the National Aviation Authorities, Air Navigation Service Providers and air operators to address the issue that spoofing and/or jamming has intensified in geographical areas surrounding the conflict zone and in other areas. www.easa.europa.eu

Ready to navigate into the future – Galileo 2nd generation satellites

Airbus has successfully completed the Preliminary Design Review (PDR) for its system concept for the second generation Galileo navigation satellites. During this important milestone, Airbus’ proposed preliminary design and the customer’s system requirements have been fully reviewed and agreed. This paves the way for further verification, acceptance and qualification at equipment and module level. Verification at payload level is already in full swing, with the Critical Design Review (CDR) for the satellite structure also due shortly.

In parallel, the Airbus site in Friedrichshafen, on Lake Constance, is preparing for an industrialised production line for currently six second-generation Galileo satellites. The satellite integration centre, is being completely upgraded to meet current and future requirements for efficient, environmentally friendly, safe and secure production for the Galileo 2nd generation satellitesthat are planned to be launched in 2024. The world of navigation is changing, driven by rapidly emerging and changing user needs (availability and reliability), a growing number of security threats (jamming and spoofing) and the evolution of other navigation systems. The new batch of Galileo spacecraft built by Airbus is the answer to this changing context. It will make the Galileo service more accurate, secure and dependable, and adaptable over its lifetime spanning two decades.

Weighing around 2.3 tons, each satellite is designed to operate for about 15 years. The state-of-the-art and all-electric medium-Earth orbit (MEO) platform from Airbus, reuses flight proven building blocks from our Telecoms and Earth Observation programmes, taking advantage of a unique combination of heritage and in orbit experience. The flexible and modular navigation payload solution with future growth capability is also based on telecom elements for signal generation. www.airbus.com

HawkEye 360 detects GPS interference in Ukraine

HawkEye 360 Inc. has announced the capability to detect and geolocate GPS interference, with analysis of data over Ukraine revealing extensive GPS interference activity. HawkEye 360 uses satellites to monitor radio frequency signals for interference that might threaten military and civil navigation applications. The capability was tested last year in a variety of exercises and is currently available as part of HawkEye 360’s RFGeo signal product catalogue. www.he360.com

i83 IMU-RTK GNSS receiver by CHC Navigation

CHC Navigation (CHCNAV) today announced the availability of the i83 GNSS receiver, a new and innovative addition to its premium GNSS receiver series for surveying, mapping and construction professionals. It is powered by 1408-channel multi-band GNSS, the latest iStar technology, and a calibration-free, high-end IMU sensor for faster and reliable field GNSS surveying. The receiver combines GNSS and IMU into one single receiver to provide optimal automatic pole tilt compensation that requires no calibration and is fully immune to magnetic interference. Operators just need to focus on their tasks and no longer need to level their pole vertically. chcnav.com