zprávy

The opening plenary of the Munich Satellite Navigation Summit, on March 25, provided an opportunity for representatives from the GNSS industry in Europe and around the world to look back on what has been achieved in the year since the last summit, and to look to the future, where the challenge is to maintain current high levels of performance.

The theme of this year’s summit was ‘Augment yourself with GNSS’ and the opening session looked at how innovations in GNSS, combined with international cooperation, are bringing benefits to society. While highlighting the critical value of Galileo accuracy, Dr Thomas Pany from the Institute of Space Technology and Space Applications at Bundeswehr University Munich said that all the global and regional satellite navigation systems would have to work closely together to reap the maximum innovative benefits of GNSS.

Matthias Petschke, Director for the EU Satellite Navigation Programmes at the European Commission’s Directorate-General for the Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs, noted significant achievements over the past year, with more satellites launched and brought into operation, and important contracts signed, particularly for the ground segment. 

Galileo market uptake

Petschke said, however, that these major achievements sometimes overshadow more ‘minor’ achievements that deserve to be put in the spotlight. Among these, he listed a waiver, in November 2018, from the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) for the use of Galileo signals in the U.S., and the publication of the E112 Delegated Regulation in December, requiring all smartphones sold in the EU to be ‘at least Galileo-enabled’ by March 2022, as two achievements that would promote the increased uptake of Galileo both in Europe and internationally.

Read this: GNSS chip manufacturers gear up for Galileo roll-out in U.S.

“Galileo is vital for Europe’s critical infrastructure,” said Dr Pascale Ehrenfreund, Chair of the Executive Board of DLR, adding that as the system nears full operational capability there has been a shift in focus from infrastructure to service delivery to end users. 

In his address at the Summit, European GNSS Agency (GSA) Executive Director Carlo des Dorides also highlighted the major success in terms of service delivery and market uptake over the past 12 months, with almost 700 million Galileo users worldwide. “This is a remarkable result, which is being reinforced by the introduction to the market of dual frequency chipsets and the first smartphones exploiting this double frequency capability, bringing better accuracy and a more robust signal,” he said, reminding that the Galileo constellation has the highest number of dual-frequency satellites of any GNSS system.

Excellent performance

Des Dorides also referenced the recent launch of a Galileo-enabled chip with very low power consumption. “This is ideally suited for the IoT and we expect to see Galileo reaching very high uptake in this interesting domain also,” he said.

Participants in the panel highlighted the excellent level of Galileo’s performance. “A report published by the Galileo Reference Centre, working closely with relevant entities at the level of Member States, shows that we are surpassing by far all of our commitments in terms of performance,” Petschke said.

Des Dorides concurred, noting that Galileo’s performance had been excellent, with horizontal positioning accuracy well below 1.5 metres and per slot availability approaching 99.5%. “The challenge ahead is to maintain this level of excellence,” he said.

Huge steps for EGNOS 

EGNOS too has seen some major developments. In particular, Petschke noted the adoption last year of a performance-based navigation implementing rule, which makes compulsory the publication of EGNOS-based procedures in all EU airports before January 2024. “This is a huge step for the uptake of EGNOS in aviation,” he said. 

And this: Galileo is key to Europe's digital economy

What’s more, in March 2019 the EGNOS Service Definition Document was updated with Safety of Life coverage extended to 72° N, providing full coverage in northern Scandinavia, and a new EGNOS transponder is set to be launched in May or June this year. “This will ensure continuity of EGNOS service provision over the next decade, at least,” Petschke said.

Des Dorides noted that EGNOS was well deployed over Europe, with more than 300 airports or helipads served. “Other domains, such as the maritime and rail sectors, are also coming on-board,” he said.

Summing up, des Dorides cited the State of the Union address by Jean-Claude Junker, in which the European Commission president highlighted that Galileo’s success is Europe’s success. “Galileo is finding its place as one of the most important achievements of the European Union,” des Dorides said.

The opening plenary of the Munich Satellite Navigation Summit, on March 25, provided an opportunity for representatives from the GNSS industry in Europe and around the world to look back on what has been achieved in the year since the last summit, and to look to the future, where the challenge is to maintain current high levels of performance.

The theme of this year’s summit was ‘Augment yourself with GNSS’ and the opening session looked at how innovations in GNSS, combined with international cooperation, are bringing benefits to society. While highlighting the critical value of Galileo accuracy, Dr Thomas Pany from the Institute of Space Technology and Space Applications at Bundeswehr University Munich said that all the global and regional satellite navigation systems would have to work closely together to reap the maximum innovative benefits of GNSS.

Matthias Petschke, Director for the EU Satellite Navigation Programmes at the European Commission’s Directorate-General for the Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs, noted significant achievements over the past year, with more satellites launched and brought into operation, and important contracts signed, particularly for the ground segment. 

Galileo market uptake

Petschke said, however, that these major achievements sometimes overshadow more ‘minor’ achievements that deserve to be put in the spotlight. Among these, he listed a waiver, in November 2018, from the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) for the use of Galileo signals in the U.S., and the publication of the E112 Delegated Regulation in December, requiring all smartphones sold in the EU to be ‘at least Galileo-enabled’ by March 2022, as two achievements that would promote the increased uptake of Galileo both in Europe and internationally.

Read this: GNSS chip manufacturers gear up for Galileo roll-out in U.S.

“Galileo is vital for Europe’s critical infrastructure,” said Dr Pascale Ehrenfreund, Chair of the Executive Board of DLR, adding that as the system nears full operational capability there has been a shift in focus from infrastructure to service delivery to end users. 

In his address at the Summit, European GNSS Agency (GSA) Executive Director Carlo des Dorides also highlighted the major success in terms of service delivery and market uptake over the past 12 months, with almost 700 million Galileo users worldwide. “This is a remarkable result, which is being reinforced by the introduction to the market of dual frequency chipsets and the first smartphones exploiting this double frequency capability, bringing better accuracy and a more robust signal,” he said, reminding that the Galileo constellation has the highest number of dual-frequency satellites of any GNSS system.

Excellent performance

Des Dorides also referenced the recent launch of a Galileo-enabled chip with very low power consumption. “This is ideally suited for the IoT and we expect to see Galileo reaching very high uptake in this interesting domain also,” he said.

Participants in the panel highlighted the excellent level of Galileo’s performance. “A report published by the Galileo Reference Centre, working closely with relevant entities at the level of Member States, shows that we are surpassing by far all of our commitments in terms of performance,” Petschke said.

Des Dorides concurred, noting that Galileo’s performance had been excellent, with horizontal positioning accuracy well below 1.5 metres and per slot availability approaching 99.5%. “The challenge ahead is to maintain this level of excellence,” he said.

Huge steps for EGNOS 

EGNOS too has seen some major developments. In particular, Petschke noted the adoption last year of a performance-based navigation implementing rule, which makes compulsory the publication of EGNOS-based procedures in all EU airports before January 2024. “This is a huge step for the uptake of EGNOS in aviation,” he said. 

And this: Galileo is key to Europe's digital economy

What’s more, in March 2019 the EGNOS Service Definition Document was updated with Safety of Life coverage extended to 72° N, providing full coverage in northern Scandinavia, and a new EGNOS transponder is set to be launched in May or June this year. “This will ensure continuity of EGNOS service provision over the next decade, at least,” Petschke said.

Des Dorides noted that EGNOS was well deployed over Europe, with more than 300 airports or helipads served. “Other domains, such as the maritime and rail sectors, are also coming on-board,” he said.

Summing up, des Dorides cited the State of the Union address by Jean-Claude Junker, in which the European Commission president highlighted that Galileo’s success is Europe’s success. “Galileo is finding its place as one of the most important achievements of the European Union,” des Dorides said.

The NavPro team took the top prize at the Galileo Hackathon by H2020 project GNSS.asia, with their Rail Unfail solution, a GNSS-based maintenance system that geotags potential fault locations on railway tracks.

Over 80 programmers from universities and enterprises all over India came together at PES University, Bangalore on 16-17 March to form 20 teams in the Galileo Hackathon by GNSS.asia. Following an intensive morning of technical and business-focused training sessions, the teams worked through the night, leveraging Galileo in applications to support smart cities, smart mobility, health or vulnerable citizens.

Read this: Bavaria rings to the sound of BELS+

The challenge was to develop either a user-friendly, fast and cost-efficient turnkey transport solution for Bangalore; a smart city solution for citizens who are disadvantaged and/or have health issues, or that increases the safety of vulnerable population groups; or other smart solutions for Bangalore, India or globally, using Galileo.

Worthy winners

NavPro’s winning idea won over the jury with its innovative application to tackle India’s railway safety challenges, using Galileo to accurately and proactively geotag potential fault locations on railway tracks. Second prize went to the Phoenix team from Vignan Institute of Information and Technology for their Farm Along project, an online market place that offers farmers and buyers accurate tracking and a secure supply chain.

Finally, third prize went to the Hex-GNSS team from Hexagon/Novatel, who developed the Perk for Park app, which identifies imbalances in parking supply and demand, making it possible to offer and avail of public and private parking spaces in big cities.

And this: Exporting Galileo – developing EGNSS markets outside Europe

Throughout the challenge, the participants received mentorship and support from experts from the private sector (Volvo Trucks, Citrix, IBM, Magnasoft), the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), the European GNSS Agency (GSA), PES University and Burdwan University.

The solutions were evaluated by a jury based on a number of criteria, including innovation, market potential and social relevance, optimal use of Galileo, level of completion and the progress made during the hackathon.

GNSS.asia

GNSS.asia is a H2020 project of the European GNSS Agency (GSA) that aims to stimulate the creation of partnerships between GNSS industries in Europe and Asia, while supporting institutional cooperation and encouraging Galileo adoption. It offers several services, including industry matchmaking and international cooperation events. GNSS.asia has permanent teams in Europe, India, China, Taiwan, South Korea and Japan.

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).