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The European GNSS Agency (GSA) has opened a call for proposals within its Fundamental Elements funding mechanism, targeting the implementation of OS-NMA and/or I/NAV features in close-to-market receivers and/or GNSS user terminals. The deadline for submissions is 31 October 2019.

This Call for Proposals aims to implement OS-NMA and/or I/NAV improvements capability in close-to-market (i.e. min TRL 7) receivers and/or GNSS user terminals suitable for target application domains other than the Smart Tachograph.

The applicants are requested to propose a solution to reach this objective in such a way that:

1. The receiver and/or terminal shall be able to receive and process OS-NMA and/or be fully compliant with and make optimal use of the new Galileo E1-OS I/NAV features introduced with the Galileo Open Service Interface Control Document (OS ICD) issue 1.4.
2. In case of OS-NMA implementation, the enhanced receiver and/or GNSS user terminal shall aim at optimising the level of protection at least against those spoofing attacks that are specific to the target application.
3. The developed receiver and/or GNSS user terminal shall be cost efficient and compliant with the specific application constraints.

For more details, please see the call documentation package.

EGNSS differentiators: OS-NMA and I/NAV improvements

As part of its service portfolio, Galileo plans to provide a navigation message authentication feature over its Open Service (OS). From the Galileo standpoint, Navigation Message Authentication (NMA) is defined as the ability of the system to guarantee to users that they are utilising navigation data from the Galileo satellites and not from any other, potentially malicious, source.

In addition, with the same objective of enhancing the Galileo services portfolio, three new features will soon be provided free of charge to all Open Service users. These features will be gradually implemented from 2020 and will be openly accessible through the I/NAV message carried by the E1-B signal.

The OS-NMA feature is considered an important asset for the Galileo programme, being a strong technical differentiator with respect to the other GNSS. This capability will allow Galileo user terminals to assess the authenticity of the data provided through the Signal in Space transmitted by Galileo satellites against attempts to spoof it. It will also help improve the overall robustness of GNSS for various applications, particularly those for which security and trustworthiness are a priority. Furthermore, the OS-NMA will also offer a certain level of anti-replay capability. This capability will strictly depend on the measures implemented by the actual receiver and therefore cannot be considered a Galileo service.

The three new features, whilst ensuring full backward compatibility with existing Galileo receivers, will further improve the robustness of Galileo OS when retrieving the navigation data, particularly in challenging environments, and will enhance the Galileo OS capability to resolve users’ clock uncertainty. In this respect, a key performance metric (especially when GNSS operates in unassisted mode) is the time to receive Clock and Ephemeris Data (CED). Two of the newly introduced features contribute in different ways to improving the Time-To-CED, and therefore the overall Time to First Fix (TTFF).

Fundamental Elements call: at a glance

• Market segment: Transversal
• Deadline for submission of proposals: 31 October 2019
• Expected signature of contract: April to June 2020
• Maximum budget allocated: EUR 3 000 000
• Maximum number of projects: 2
• EU financing amount of each of the two projects: up to EUR 3 000 000 (70% co-funding)
• Webinar date: 9 October 2019 15:00

Webinar

On 9 October 2019 at 15:00, a webinar on the Fundamental Elements Call “Enhanced GNSS Receiver/User Terminal” will be held to provide applicants with information on how to prepare a proposal. To connect to the webinar click here.

Media note: This feature can be republished without charge provided the European GNSS Agency (GSA) is acknowledged as the source at the top or the bottom of the story. You must request permission before you use any of the photographs on the site. If you republish, we would be grateful if you could link back to the GSA website (http://www.gsa.europa.eu).

Over the past few months, we have published a number of articles highlighting how GNSS is contributing to technological advancements in various transport sectors. Mobility Week is a good opportunity to look back at these and summarise how Galileo and EGNOS are enabling the intelligent transport applications that underpin the mobility solutions of the future.

Following the first Space for Innovation in Rail conference, held in Vienna back in March, we had a number of articles on the contribution of space to the modernisation of the rail sector. One of these featured leading Italian rail infrastructure manager Rete Ferroviaria Italiana (RFI), an early adopter of the European Rail Traffic Management System (ERTMS) and a company that has been quick to appreciate the benefits of using satellite positioning in the rail sector.

GNSS and the ERTMS are perfect complementary assets that can together considerably reduce rail operational costs. However, with new technologies such as GNSS, obstacles still remain to ensuring interoperability and open standards, and these obstacles require solutions to be developed by all stakeholders involved. This is something that the ERSAT (ERTMS on Satellite) project, co-funded by the GSA, aims to address.

Watch this: EGNOS and Galileo for Rail

This project targets the integration of GNSS positioning and public telecommunications over the ERTMS platform and is making an effective roadmap to allow others to follow a step-wise operational deployment. The ERSAT project has field-tested and demonstrated the capability of satellite-based positioning embedded within the ERTMS ecosystem. This has caught the eye of many train operators in Europe and beyond.

Boosting customer services

Once such operator is French national rail company SNCF, which is taking the lead in adopting Galileo technology to boost customer services, in particular in its high-speed TGV network. The company is already embracing GNSS-based systems, especially for passenger information, and fleet and traffic management. “At the beginning of 2019, some 250 high-speed trains were already equipped with Galileo-ready receivers. This represents nearly 50% of SNCF’s TGV fleet. Some 320 trains are expected to be Galileo-ready by the end of 2019,” said Antoine Barre, head of train localisation projects at SNCF. SNCF aims to equip its entire train fleet with Galileo receivers to assist non-safety relevant train localisation, and also plans to further investigate the future contribution of European GNSS within the ERTMS.

And this: Driving with Galileo

Supporting Mobility as a Service

The benefits of EGNSS stretch beyond the rail sector, however. New urban mobility schemes are rapidly evolving due to social, economic and technological changes and, against this backdrop, Galileo can deliver new accuracy and reliability for location-dependent services that get people where they need to go. This is supported by the omnipresence of smart mobile devices, which is allowing new business models to emerge based on the sharing of goods and services - the so-called sharing economy.

The Galileo 4 Mobility project is working to promote the introduction of Galileo technology within the MaaS context by analysing the geolocation needs of the different stakeholders involved and demonstrating the benefits of Galileo through pilot demonstrators of shared mobility services. GALILEO 4 MOBILITY encompasses a number of MaaS-oriented pilots, including a ride-sharing service in Thessaloniki, Greece.

Changing the way we fly

It is not just land-based transport that is benefiting from space-based solutions. In aviation too, EGNSS is also helping make transport cleaner, safer and more accessible, EGNOS and Galileo contribute to landing, surveillance and Search and Rescue operations, and actions targeting every aviation user. These benefits of EGNOS were in focus at the AERO International General Aviation Fair at Friedrichshafen, Germany, back in May.

And this: EGNOS for Aviation

At the event, Julian Scarfe, deputy chairman of PPL/IR – Europe, the leading group for private pilots across Europe interested in instrument flying, spoke about easier access to instrument flight rules for general aviation through the use of EGNOS and localiser performance with vertical guidance (LPV). "Today we have EGNOS that can enable vertical approaches to non-instrument runways. The GSA is running a project to enable this. This will change the way we fly," he said.

Likewise, in an interview with GSA, AirBaltic’s Senior Vice President for Flight Operations Pauls Cālītis spoke about how EGNOS is enabling the E-GEN project and the ’green flying’ concept, helping the airline to improve its efficiency  and reduce its environmental footprint and the level of emissions and noise that it produces.

Media note: This feature can be republished without charge provided the European GNSS Agency (GSA) is acknowledged as the source at the top or the bottom of the story. You must request permission before you use any of the photographs on the site. If you republish, we would be grateful if you could link back to the GSA website (http://www.gsa.europa.eu).

The European GNSS Agency (GSA) and the European Investment Bank (EIB) have signed an agreement to cooperate on supporting investment in the European space-based service economy. The agreement was signed as part of celebrations at GSA headquarters in Prague on September 10 to mark the Agency’s 15th anniversary.

With the new agreement, the GSA and EIB are bringing together their expertise and experience to explore new investment support for the European space-based economy. The common objective is to create high-skilled jobs in the EU and improve the day-to-day lives of Europeans by supporting innovative companies and accelerating the development of new applications that use European global navigation satellite systems and earth observation data.

Read this: GSA celebrates 15 years

European Commissioner for the Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs Elżbieta Bieńkowska has noted several times the critical importance of adequate funding for the future of the European space industry. "Access to finance remains a significant hurdle to unleashing the potential of European space entrepreneurship within and outside Europe,” the Commissioner said. This new agreement between the GSA and the EIB will help to overcome this hurdle.

Keeping Europe in the game

“Our expertise in market intelligence for satellite navigation and in supporting new business opportunities – thanks to EGNOS and Galileo – is the basis of our agreement with the EIB,” said Carlo des Dorides, GSA Executive Director. “We are confident that our cooperation will bring the extra added value required by entrepreneurs to transform their application businesses into globally successful companies.”

“We need to make sure that Europe stays in the game. That is why we are particularly enthusiastic about this agreement with GSA. It is an important step to develop further support for European space entrepreneurs and businesses to eventually give them and the EU a competitive edge in this new space race,” said EIB Vice-President Ambroise Fayolle, responsible for innovation.

A changing space sector

The global space economy has been evolving rapidly in recent years, with average annual growth of 6.7% over the past 10 years, which is almost twice the 3.5% average yearly growth of the global economy. The main driver of this growth has been the “New Space” phenomenon: a number of technological and business model innovations that have introduced new products and services and reduced the cost of accessing and using space.

And this: GSA celebrates 1 billion Galileo smartphone users

The transformation of the space economy has seen new space companies investing over EUR 14.8 billion since 2000, with a fast accelerating trend: total investment in space companies grew by a factor of 3.5 in 2012–2017 compared with the previous six-year period.

Historically, Europe has always been at the forefront of publicly-funded space exploration, investing massively in space infrastructures such as the Copernicus and Galileo satellite programmes. Europe still boasts academic and scientific excellence but risks missing the next wave of space innovation unless it seizes the opportunity to stimulate more private investment in the new space sector. This is something that the new agreement between the GSA and the EIB aims to address.

Media note: This feature can be republished without charge provided the European GNSS Agency (GSA) is acknowledged as the source at the top or the bottom of the story. You must request permission before you use any of the photographs on the site. If you republish, we would be grateful if you could link back to the GSA website (http://www.gsa.europa.eu).