At the 45th meeting of the European GNSS Agency’s (GSA) Administrative Board back in July 2016, Jean-Yves Le Gall, President of CNES, the French space agency, and France’s interministerial coordinator for European satellite navigation programmes, was elected as Chair. European GNSS has gone from strength to strength in the four years since then. As his term draws to an end, he looks back at what has been achieved.
A cereal farmer in Salamanca, Spain, explains how satellite navigation systems help farmers to reduce CO2 emissions and save time and money, and demonstrates how EGNOS currently plays an important role in European agriculture, helping farms to improve crop yields while reducing their environmental footprint.
Galileo Initial Services Open Service and SAR/Galileo Enhanced Services Performance Reports covering the first quarter of 2020 are available in the Electronic Library of the European GNSS Service Centre web portal.
A Work Plan for the European Railway Traffic Management System (ERTMS), published by the European Commission in May this year, lists satellite positioning as one of the game changing technologies underpinning future evolutions of the system and a key element to be included in future Technological Specifications for Interoperability (TSI).
Over 200 participants from 32 countries took part in the fourth GNSS Raw Measurements Task Force Workshop, held online on 27-28 May 2020. At the workshop, participants had the opportunity to learn about progress around the use of raw measurements in Android devices and to benefit from the experience of the GSA’s Raw Measurements Task Force.
Have an idea that uses Galileo positioning to address a pressing societal challenge? Take it to the next level by entering it in this year’s Galileo Masters competition. Every year, the Galileo Masters acts as a springboard for exciting new ideas and awards new applications and services that use Galileo and EGNOS, also in synergy with other space programmes, to respond to pressing needs facing business and society.
Winner of the GSA Special Prize at the 2013 European Satellite Navigation Competition (ESNC), JOHAN has successfully established a start-up and is expanding its products portfolio. The company has developed GNSS-enabled motion sensors for location determination and performance measurement of sports teams, especially football and hockey players. The latest version of the sports tracker - V5 - leverages EGNOS/SBAS for extra accuracy.
A webinar was organised by the Global ARAIM for Dual-Constellation (GLAD) project, co-funded by the European GNSS Agency (GSA), which is developing the Advanced Receiver Autonomous Integrity Monitoring (RAIM) prototype receiver under the Fundamental Elements programme. It took place on 24 June 2020 and covered the ARAIM concept and GLAD activities during the prototyping and demonstration of the results.
By reinforcing synergies with other space technologies and working with all the Member States, while creating a favourable ecosystem, the impact of the space sector on economic growth in Europe will expand and create more jobs, according to European GNSS Agency (GSA) Acting Executive Director Pascal Claudel.
GNSS and Earth observation experts came together at a webinar organised by the European GNSS Agency (GSA) on 26 May to discuss how combining Galileo and EGNOS navigation and positioning tools with the data and services offered by EU Earth observation programme Copernicus can be used to improve food security and make agriculture in general more efficient and sustainable.
The Prague Public Transit Company (DPP) has issued a tender for Galileo-enabled receivers to be included in Prague tramways as part of a modernization plan to increase network efficiency and improve user experience.
On June 8 the world celebrates World Oceans Day, when people around the planet celebrate our oceans and seas and work to raise awareness about problems facing the marine environment. The EU space programmes Galileo, EGNOS and Copernicus, with their positioning, navigation and Earth observation services, are helping to monitor and protect the oceans and make Europe’s Blue Economy more sustainable, in support of the European Green Deal agenda.
The European GNSS Agency (GSA) has published a White Paper on “Power-efficient positioning for the Internet of Things”, providing an overview of GNSS technologies that are relevant for low-power IoT applications, including those that require hybridisation with other connectivity solutions. The GSA is organising a dedicated webinar on 18 June to present the main findings from the paper.
With over 2 500 downloads since it was launched at the start of May, the Galileo Green Lane app is proving to be popular with drivers. Developed by the European GNSS Agency (GSA) in collaboration with the European Commission, the app is a key tool in the EU’s COVID-19 pandemic response. By easing traffic flow through the EU’s borders, the app is helping to support a fundamental EU principle - the free movement of goods and freight in the internal market.
The European Space Programmes are playing a key role in managing the COVID-19 pandemic and in particular in supporting emergency and medical operations in all weather, anytime, when they are most needed. We have talked to air ambulance and emergency operators using EGNOS about their experience and how EGNOS is helping them to take care of EU citizens, operate more effectively in these difficult times and save lives.
