Tag: Galileo

Leading the Way for the Future of EGNOS

December 11, 2020 / WIL BALDWIN

Airbus-led consortiums have recently won a series of contracts to shape the future of EGNOS, the European Geostationary Navigation Overlay Service. EGNOS enhances Galileo and GPS signals to provide augmented safety of life services.

EGNOS V3, set to replace the current version, is already being developed by a consortium of 20 European companies led by Airbus. It will enable ‘Category I’ automatic landing of aircraft – with the flight crew supervising – in weather conditions where it would otherwise be dangerous or impossible to operate.

To prepare EGNOS V3 Evolutions, the European Space Agency (ESA) has awarded a new study contract to Airbus. The focus is on the use of the augmentation service for stringent operations like Category II approach and landing under very low visibility conditions going beyond the current EGNOS V3 performance requirements.

Preceding this, Airbus has been conducting an innovative study under the ESA NAVISP Programme to assess the potential of sensor fusion techniques, for aviation applications demanding stringent performance requirements aiding operations under low visibility conditions. The study assesses the fit and the benefits of this approach to the Positioning Navigation & Timing (PNT) requirement adherence, in particular for the Satellite Navigation.

In addition, Airbus, together with European partners, has won a series of contracts from the European Global Navigation Satellite Systems Agency (GSA) and ESA to extend EGNOS service use for the safe operations of railways. The resulting projects are:

– CLUG (Certifiable Localisation Unit with GNSS): GNSS could prove a game changer for the European railway network by enabling a significant reduction of trackside equipment and by improving localisation performance. This project is performing mission analysis/needs identification and a preliminary feasibility study of an on-board localisation unit.

– GREET (GNSS for the Railway EnvironmEnT) ESA recently awarded Airbus a study for the development of a railway GNSS receiver chain to support the testing and validation of integrity concepts, algorithms, and techniques for receivers in railway environment.

– EGNSS-R (European GNSS for Rail): Rail signaling systems are used to safely control traffic in order to prevent train collisions. The project aims to define a new GNSS augmentation service for improved rail signaling, along with an implementation roadmap.

Leonardo Joins Adelaide’s Lot Fourteen Space Precinct

September 17, 2020 / WIL BALDWIN

– Partners with SmartSat CRC

Leonardo commits to the South Australian space ecosystem establishing a foothold for its space service business – through its subsidiary e-GEOS – in partnership with SmartSat CRC. e-GEOS is a joint venture between Telespazio – Leonardo’s subsidiary – and the Italian Space Agency.

The news was warmly welcomed by the local community and by the Premier of South Australia Hon. Steven Marshall who recently welcomed Leonardo at Lot Fourteen. “South Australia is the defence and space capital of the Country and it’s fantastic to see another incredible international company choosing South Australia to do business” he commented. “The strong interest being shown by major national and international players is a coup for South Australia and is further evidence that Lot Fourteen is a magnet for business and jobs. The addition of Leonardo to Lot Fourteen cements my governments strong commitment to create a once in a generation hub that will generate thousands of jobs for South Australians now and into the future.” Hon. Marshall stated.

As a dominant worldwide supplier in the space sector, Leonardo aims to collaborate with the Australian space industry to stimulate local growth and competitiveness in global markets.

In 2019, Leonardo Australia through the involvement of e-GEOS (a joint venture between Telespazio – Leonardo’s subsidiary – and the Italian Space Agency), became a supporting partner of Adelaide-based space Cooperative Research Centre SmartSat CRC. Leonardo Australia’s partnership with SmartSat is a key driver in the company’s strategy to grow its presence in the space industry within the Oceania region and to develop joint research and commercialisation opportunities. As prominent provider of the European Copernicus program, e-GEOS supports rapid security and disaster response operations all over the world, including providing Australian fire authorities rapid mapping during recent bushfires.

Leonardo Australia is the regional subsidiary of Leonardo, a global top ten high technology Defence and Space company with annual revenues of 23 bn AU$.

Mr George Coulloupas of Leonardo Australia (Business Development Manager – Space) is leading Leonardo Australia’s Space Line of Business based at Lot Fourteen. George has extensive Australian-based experience in start-up innovation, space-derived service commercialisation and primary.

Airbus Built BepiColombo Will Make Earth Fly-by on April 10th

April 6, 2020 / WIL BALDWIN

The Airbus built BepiColombo mission will make a fly-by past Earth on 10^th April 2020 as it continues on its epic journey to Mercury.

The joint European Space Agency and Japanese Space Agency spacecraft will swing past Earth at about 13,000 km away, closer than navigation satellites (GPS, Galileo). It will be BepiColombo’s final glimpse of Earth before it continues on its seven year, 8.5 billion kilometre journey to the Solar System’s innermost, smallest and least explored planet, Mercury. The last time the spacecraft saw Earth was 18 months ago in October 2018, when it was launched on an Ariane 5.

BepiColombo is not due to arrive at Mercury until 05^th December 2025, but to get there safely and at the right speed to be captured by Mercury’s gravity, it must do nine flybys of the inner planets, one past Earth, two at Venus and six flybys at Mercury. After arrival, the spacecraft will capture data for a year with the possibility of extending the mission.

BepiColombo will collect measurements to study the composition, geophysics, atmosphere, magnetosphere and history of Mercury as well as testing Einstein’s theory of general relativity. The 16 scientific instruments will also provide insights into the characteristics of Mercury’s magnetic field and how it interacts with the solar wind.

Philippe Pham, Head of Earth Observation, Navigation and Science said: “This flyby marks a great achievement and major milestone for Airbus. Teams across five countries worked together to successfully develop and launch the spacecraft on a complex mission to Mercury.”

The journey will total some 8.5 billion km, completing 18 orbits around the Sun before entering the spacecraft’s operational orbit and beginning scientific exploration of the planet Mercury.

Leading the Way for the Future of EGNOS

Leonardo Joins Adelaide’s Lot Fourteen Space Precinct

Airbus Built BepiColombo Will Make Earth Fly-by on April 10th

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