GNSS

Galileo OSNMA is now fully operational

The European Union Agency for the Space Programme has officially declared its Galileo Open Service Navigation Message Authentication (OSNMA) initial service fully operational on 24th July’2025. OSNMA introduces a data authentication mechanism for Galileo Open Service users and is available free of charge to Galileo users worldwide. While Galileo satellites have been transmitting OSNMA since 2021 in a test mode, the service lacked formal guarantees. But now OSNMA officially transitions to operational status.

What is OSNMA?

OSNMA enables Galileo satellites to transmit a “digital signature” along with their standard Open Service navigation data. This signature allows receivers to verify that the signal they are receiving genuinely originates from Galileo and not from a malicious or spoofed source. Receivers equipped to fully exploit OSNMA will enjoy significantly improved protection against spoofing attacks.

A Collective European Effort

OSNMA is the result of over a decade of dedicated effort aimed at positioning Galileo at the forefront of satellite navigation. It reflects the strength of collaboration among European institutions and industry. The implementation involves the EU Space Programme Agency (EUSPA), responsible for OSNMA operations via the European GNSS Service Centre in Torrejón, Madrid; the European Space Agency (ESA), which manages the Galileo core infrastructure; and numerous key industrial partners from across the European aerospace sector.

The European Commission’s Directorate General for Defence Industry and Space (DG DEFIS), and particularly its Satellite Navigation Unit, initiated, conceptualised, and oversees the implementation of OSNMA, and is responsible for overall Galileo Programme Management.

The Canadian Geodetic updates CSRS-PPP service

The Canadian Geodetic Survey (CGS) of Natural Resources Canada (NRCan) updated the Canadian Spatial Reference System Precise Point Positioning (CSRS-PPP) service on 14 May 2025. It includes, for the first time, support for Galileo PPP with ambiguity resolution (Galileo PPP-AR) for E1/E5a observations collected beginning 27 November 2022 when processed with either the Rapid or Final products. Submissions processed with the Ultra-rapid products will continue to support only GPS and GLONASS observations.

The main advantage of including dual-frequency Galileo observations in CSRS-PPP submissions is that they allow users to achieve improved accuracies, especially for shorter datasets, compared with only GPS and GLONASS submissions. This means that users can collect less data to meet their accuracy needs, mainly because, similarly to GPS, CSRS-PPP attempts to fix the integer ambiguities for Galileo when possible.

More details on the CSRS-PPP ambiguity resolution algorithm can be found in the CSRS-PPP version 3 PPPAR tutorial. The addition of Galileo will also improve the satellite geometry, especially when tracking in less-than-ideal conditions. Figures 1 to 3 compare the achievable accuracies between CSRS-PPP v4 with GPS and GLONASS, and CSRS-PPP v5 with GPS, GLONASS, and Galileo, when processing geodetic-quality GNSS observation sets between 15 minutes and 12 hours. The CSRS PPP v5 accuracy improvement can reach up to 40-60% for datasets of up to one hour and approximately 10-20% for 12 hours. https:// webapp.csrs-scrs.nrcan-rncan.gc.ca

India plans three more NavIC satellites

India is set to strengthen its homegrown satellite navigation NavIC (Navigation with Indian Constellation) system with the planned launch of three new satellites — NVS-03, NVS-04, and NVS-05 — by 2027, amid concerns over the ageing and partially operational fleet.

According to Union Minister Jitendra Singh, the NVS 03 satellite is scheduled for launch by the end of 2025.

The subsequent satellites, NVS-04 and NVS-05, will be deployed at six month intervals thereafter, extending the replenishment schedule into 2027. The NavIC system currently comprises 11 satellites launched since inception. swarajyamag.com

DAF sends NTS-3 Vanguard into space on ULA Vulcan rocket

The Department of the Air Force (DAF) launched the Navigation Technology Satellite-3 (NTS-3) Vanguard on the USSF-106 mission from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida, Aug. 12, 2025. NTS-3 is a payload for the first U.S. national security launch aboard a United Launch Alliance Vulcan rocket.

AFRL designed NTS-3 to provide more robust, resilient and responsive positioning, navigation and timing (PNT) functionality in space, thereby increasing the security and efficacy of PNT systems like GPS.

NTS-3 features a space-based satellite, a ground-based control system and agile user receivers, all linked by reprogrammable software. This allows for rapid, on-orbit or in-the-field updates to all three segments, a significant advancement over previous GPS satellites that required hardware replacements for upgrades. www.afrl.af.mil