EGNOS Satellite Navigation System to Get New Capabilities
A contract has been inked between Thales Alenia Space and The EU Agency for Space Program to bring new capabilities to Europe's EGNOS Satellite Navigation System.
“(This) contract signature bolsters Thales Alenia Space leadership position in SBAS and satellite navigation. Supported by a strong R&D activity, we are currently developing and testing with success SBAS next generation architectures and capabilities."
Benoit Broudy, Navigation vice president at Thales Alenia Space in France.
With this contract, Thales Alenia Space will start the development for Europe of a new European Geostationary Navigation Overlay Service (EGNOS) version introducing a new generation uplink station (NLES, Navigation Land Earth Station) allowing the introduction of new GEO satellites in the system for improved redundancy. This new generation of station would be also compatible with the future emission of Dual Frequency & Multi-Constellation messages, such as future introduction of dual frequency algorithms and usage of the Galileo and GPS constellations.
“(This) signature bolsters Thales Alenia Space leadership position in SBAS and satellite navigation. Supported by a strong R&D activity, we are currently developing and testing with success SBAS next generation architectures and capabilities. The strong dynamic we experience on our SBAS export markets in Asia, Africa & Indian Ocean demonstrate our solution's global attractiveness for our customers,” said Benoit Broudy, Navigation vice president at Thales Alenia Space in France.
The EGNOS Satellite Navigation System is a joint project of ESA, the European Commission and Eurocontrol, the European Organisation for the Safety of Air Navigation. It is Europe’s first activity in the field of Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) and is a precursor to Galileo, the full global satellite navigation system under development in Europe.
Consisting of three geostationary satellites and a network of ground stations, EGNOS achieves its aim by transmitting a signal containing information on the reliability and accuracy of the positioning signals sent out by GPS. It allows users in Europe and beyond to determine their position to within 1.5 meters (five feet).
EGNOS augments the US GPS satellite navigation system and makes it suitable for safety critical applications such as flying aircraft or navigating ships through narrow channels.
(Image provided with Thales Alenia Space news release)