Stakeholders and users from around the world came together in Madrid for the first ever Galileo User Assembly on 28 and 29 November. Participants worked hard over two days to define future user needs, receive updates on the status of the system and hear about new services to be launched in the next few years. A key component was the first Galileo Service Provision Workshop that took place on the second day of the Assembly
Today, December 15, marks the first anniversary of the declaration of Galileo Initial Services. This is an ideal opportunity to look back at what has proven to be an exciting year full of achievements for Galileo, as well as the European GNSS Agency (GSA).
On December 1 the Galileo Integrated Logistic Support (ILS) Centre, built to the highest environmental standards, was inaugurated at the GALAXIA European Space Applications Park in Transinne, Belgium, in the presence of Belgian Mobility Minister François Bellot.
Four new Galileo satellites were successfully launched on December 12 from the European spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana. This launch brings the Galileo constellation to a total of 22 satellites.
Four Galileo satellites are to be launched on an Ariane 5 launcher from the Kourou Space Centre in French Guyana at 18:36 UTC (19:36 CET) on December 12. For the first time, the European GNSS Agency (GSA) will be responsible for the Launch and Early Orbit Phase (LEOP) of this mission (L9), overseeing Spaceopal GmbH in their new role as Galileo Service Operator.
Less than one year on from the launch of Galileo Initial Services (IS) in December 2016, the European GNSS Service Centre (GSC) near Madrid was the venue for the very first Galileo User Assembly jointly organised by the European Commission and the European GNSS Agency (GSA). During this highly successful gathering of the Galileo community, the European GNSS User Consultation Platform (UCP) was officially launched to provide an open forum for users to discuss their needs, share experiences and provide feedback on the performance of European GNSS (EGNSS).
On 28 and 29 November the First Galileo User Assembly was jointly hosted by the European GNSS Service Centre (GSC) based within Spain’s Instituto Nacional de Técnica Aeroespacial (INTA) just outside Madrid. As the main interface for European GNSS and its users the GSC featured heavily in the Assembly with briefings on its performance and future service plans. Assembly participants also had the opportunity to visit the main operations centre within this secure facility.
With the 2017 EGNOS User Satisfaction Survey, the European GNSS Agency (GSA) aims to gain a clearer picture of the requirements of EGNOS users so it can improve EGNOS service delivery.
In a recent article published by Geospatial World, the European GNSS Agency (GSA) discusses how the EGNOS Open Service and the EGNOS Data Access Service (EDAS) help provide users with improved location performance.
Now that surveyors worldwide are able to use Galileo positioning, following the declaration of Galileo Initial Services, all major Precise Point Positioning (PPP) providers in Europe have upgraded to Galileo and more than 50% of real time kinematic (RTK) network providers have already upgraded or have started to upgrade.
Last time we checked in with the JOHAN project, the team was finalising the final testing phase. Just a couple years later, they’re on the verge of going global.
The European GNSS Agency (GSA) recently sponsored the 23rd Ka and Broadband Communications Conference and the 35th AIAA International Communications Satellite Systems Conference (ICSSC), two of the most influential technical conferences on satellite systems, which were held jointly in Trieste, Italy, on 16-19 October 2017.
The SpaceTech2017 Hackathon, part of Estonian Space Week, challenged hardware and software developers to utilise the synergies between Galileo and Copernicus to create innovative applications.
The European GNSS Agency (GSA) has successfully qualified its ISO 9001: 2015-compliant management system as part of this year's re-certification audit. The audit revealed that quality management processes at the agency have improved as a result of being adapted and developed since the previous audit.
Scientists and researchers participating at the final event of the EU-funded SaPPART COST Action ('Satellite Positioning Performance Assessment for Road Transport') discussed the potential of GNSS to deliver necessary high-integrity and high-precision positioning capabilities for autonomous road vehicles. A robust centralised on-board GNSS unit could deliver the requisite levels of performance for a variety of in-vehicle applications.
