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The fourth edition of the European Space Solutions conference has launched in The Hague, promising a week of exciting discussion and interaction on European space policy and innovation – with European GNSS and the European GNSS Agency (GSA) taking centre stage.

Dutch astronaut André Kuipers officially kicked off the fourth edition of the European Space Solutions conference in The Hague by setting the scene with stories from his time on the International Space Station. Yet even when floating far above the Earth, Kuipers noted his appreciation for the increasing impact that space exploration and space technology has on our daily lives here on the ground. “Whether it’s weather forecasting, providing high precision agriculture or monitoring pollution, space directly impacts everyone’s lives – making us all astronauts on spaceship Earth,” he says.

This theme of linking space technology to earth was a common one throughout the conference’s opening plenary session. “Space technology and data can help resolve issues faced by humanity and help us build practical solutions,” says Dutch Minister of Economic Affairs Henk Kamp, representing the Netherlands Presidency of the Council of the European Union, the official host of the conference. “Space is important for the future of Europe – and Europe is important for the future of space.” On this point, he highlighted Galileo and EGNOS as prime examples of European projects providing global precision and helping to give Europe a competitive edge is such areas as trade and security.

With the declaration of Galileo Initial Services set for later this year, the timing of the conference couldn’t be better. “Now, more than ever, the challenge is to convert the success of the Galileo programme into tangible goods and services that will fuel jobs and growth,” adds European Commissioner for International Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs Elżbieta Bieńkowska.

Representing a major step towards accomplishing this objective, the Commissioner joined Dutch Minister of Infrastructure and the Environment Melanie Schultz van Haegen and GSA Executive Director Carlo des Dorides in signing an agreement to establish the Galileo Reference Centre (GRC) right here in the Netherlands. The core mission of the GRC is to perform independent monitoring of Galileo’s performance and report on its findings.

Space opportunities

Although already today an array of applications and services are taking advantage of space technology and data, including GNSS and Earth observation, many presenters stressed the need to create more awareness about the role that space plays in our everyday lives. “Connectivity is the oxygen of business, and connectivity and applications are the key to creating jobs and growth,” says Member of the European Parliament Cora van Nieuwenhuizen. “This leads us to only one conclusion: it must support space.”

This is a sentiment echoed by European Commission Director-General for Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs Lowri Evans. “We are in the midst of an important and exciting economic moment for the European pace sector, but we need to shift our attention away from the hardware and towards the applications,” she says. “We need to get the data flowing, and this requires us to focus on research and innovation, unlocking skills, ensuring investment and looking at appropriate regulatory tools.”

But this isn’t to say that applications aren’t already benefiting from the technology. For example, in aviation EGNOS is facilitating the safe operation of aircraft at over 200 European airports – a number set to double by 2018. “This innovation represents the biggest technological revolution in aviation since the invention of radar, and the lessons we are learning here are now being exported to such domains as the rail sector,” says des Dorides.

Des Dorides also pointed to the area of location based services (LBS) and the geopositioning market, where the ubiquitous positioning provided by GNSS is being integrated with other technologies to deliver robust, reliable and secure positioning information. “GNSS receivers capable of capturing positioning, navigation and timing data will generate huge, rich data flows – making for a very interesting future for Galileo and its applications,” he concludes.

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 Galileo Reference Centre (GRC), to be located in the Netherlands, will play a crucial role in monitoring Galileo’s performance. The European GNSS Agency (GSA) made the announcement during this week’s European Space Solutions conference in The Hague. 

This week during the 4th European Space Solutions conference in The Hague, the GSA announced the establishment of the Galileo Reference Centre (GRC) in Noordwijk, the Netherlands. The GRC’s core mission is to perform independent monitoring of Galileo’s performance and report on its findings. 

European Commissioner for Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs Elżbieta Bieńkowska and Dutch Minister of Infrastructure and the Environment Melanie Schultz van Haegen joined GSA Executive Director Carlo des Dorides to officially sign the GRC hosting agreement during the conference’s opening session.  

“The use of space data is becoming more urgent and relevant in many areas, for example in maritime safety and smart mobility,” says Minister Schultz van Haegen. “The Galileo Reference Centre will help ensure the provision of high quality satellite data so users can better rely on and benefit from Galileo.”

With Galileo Initial Services set to be declared this year, the GRC will play a pivotal role in the programme’s operations. “When operational, the GRC will provide the GSA with an independent system to evaluate the performance of the Galileo Service Operator and the quality of the signals in space,” says des Dorides. 

GRC’s core facility in Noordwijk will also actively integrate contributions from the EU Member States, Norway and Switzerland. The core facility is charged with generating performance evaluation products, reporting and performing dedicated campaign-based analyses. It will also rely on a range of facilities and expertise available in the Member States. 

The GRC will be implemented using a versioning approach. The first step is expected to be in place at the time of declaration of Galileo Initial Services. The core facility is set to become operational in 2017.

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).

French start-up UBISCALE was named the winner of the first GSA “IoT Solutions empowered by GNSS” award at the 2016 GEO IoT conference.

The Internet of Things (IoT) is everywhere, connecting smartphones, tablets and industrial and home appliances, and making roads, cities, factories and appliances smarter. In every sector of the economy, IoT is enabling objects to exchange data with manufacturers, operators and other devices to create a vast integrated network of connected things and services that is expected to surpass a volume of 50 billion by 2020.

Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) such as Galileo and EGNOS play a key role in IoT, providing the positioning, velocity and timing information required by an increasing number of context-aware applications.

To raise awareness of the integral role that GNSS plays in IoT, the European GNSS Agency (GSA) sponsored the IoT Solutions empowered by GNSS award within the GEO IoT World conference on 25-26 May in Brussels.

“Galileo brings IoT better accuracy and availability due to its signal strength in such difficult environments as in the city, as well as an authenticated open signal,” says GSA Executive Director Carlo des Dorides. “With this award, the GSA was looking for the most innovative IoT applications that rely on GNSS and leverage the enhanced possibilities offered by Galileo – and we found such an application in UBISCALE, this year’s winning company.”

Power saving solution

At the centre of this winning concept is the UbiGNSS™ technology and service that enables true low‐power GNSS‐based IoT services. The UbiGNSS™ solution’s essential insight is that for tracking applications, the device itself does not need to know its position, although the service side tracking applications does.

“From this assessment, we achieved power‐optimised GNSS pre‐processing for end‐devices and shifted the actual calculation of the position to a cloud‐based server, while sustaining the low data rate of Low‐Power Wide‐Area Networking (LPWAN),” says UBISCALE General Manager Samuel Ryckewaert who, along with CTO Mikaël Guenais, received the award during a special ceremony in Brussels. “In comparison to architecture based on GNSS computing the position at the device, the combination of GNSS and LPWAN used in UbiGNSS™ can cut power consumption by ten times, which enables unprecedented battery‐operated and truly cost‐effective tracking applications.”

UbiGNSS™ technology has been engineered to be compatible with all major GNSS systems, but the company anticipates that Galileo, thanks to its modulations and signal strength, will provide additional benefits, especially in terms of urban and other challenging environments.

The company is also anticipating a swift entry into the market. “With the advent of LPWAN networks, we believe our entry is arriving at the right time on the market,” says Guenais. “LPWAN networks are expected to represent 25% of total IoT connectivity by 2020 and will unleash a large volume of opportunities in lower-end devices.”

As well as working with new tracking devices, the UbiGNSS™ solution can also be applied to existing trackers as a firmware upgrade.

In reaching their verdict, the jury, which included GSA Market Development Officer for IoT and LBS Justyna Redelkiewicz and other industry experts, praised the UBISCALE solution, saying: “Power consumption is one of the main barriers for GNSS adoption in IoT.  As this project tackles this problem, we think it will have a huge impact on the market.”

In recognition of their achievement, the company received a GSA ‘prism’ trophy and certificate. In addition, UBISCALE will be funded for a business incubation period tailored around their needs, which could include market analysis, business strategy and business plan development, resource mobilisation strategy and international positioning. Furthermore, the company will have access to networking opportunities with industry and investors, investor relations and investor scouting, a dedicated team of GSA-accredited consultants and coaches, along with an extensive network of industry and institutions – all specialised in the GEO IoT market.

EAGLE award

In addition to the main prize, the GSA also announced a special prize awarded to the EAGLE (Enhanced Authentication with GaLileo dEvice) device, entered by Italian venture SpaceEXE. This concept integrates a high‐precision GNSS receiver with the capability of authenticating position through the GNSS satellite signal recording, the I.D. satellite tracked, and their position in orbit.

The application will enable local authorities to create ‘Fluid Limited Traffic Zones’ to dynamically regulate access to city centres, thus setting a new standard for city mobility. The technological novelty of the product is the civil use of authentication of the Galileo GNSS signal, paired with a massive cloud based system capable of monitoring multiple vehicles in real time. “The idea of this project is very interesting since it provides flexibility for city traffic management while leveraging Galileo Open Service authentication,” says Redelkiewicz.

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).