Happy birthday Galileo
2019 is the year of Galileo! The European Union’s Global Satellite Navigation System (GNSS), which was launched following a European Commission communication issued in February 1999, will celebrate its 20th anniversary this year.
WHAT IS IT?
Galileo is Europe’s Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS), providing positioning and timing information. Joint initiative of the European Commission, the European GNSS Agency (GSA) and the European Space Agency (ESA), it aims to play a role in applications like:
■ The internet of things;
■ Location-based services (LBS);
■ Emergency, security and humanitarian services;
■ Science, environment, weather;
■ Transport;
■ Agriculture;
■ Fisheries;
■ Civil engineering;
■ A time-reference function.
GREAT EXPECTATIONS
Once operational, the Galileo system will offer four high-performance services worldwide:
■ Open Service (OS): Galileo open and free of charge service set up for positioning and timing services.
■ High Accuracy Service (HAS): A service complementing the OS by providing an additional navigation signal and added-value services in a different frequency band. The HAS signal can be encrypted in order to control the access to the Galileo HAS services.
■ Public Regulated Service (PRS): Service restricted to government-authorised users, for sensitive applicationsthat require a high level of service continuity.
■ Search and Rescue Service (SAR): Europe’s contribution to COSPAS-SARSAT, an international satellite- based search and rescue distress alert detection system.
FUTURE ACHIEVEMENTS
There are now 26 Galileo satellites orbiting the Earth, and the supporting ground station infrastructure is operational. Galileo is now ready to be used!
With the declaration of Galileo Initial Services in December 2016, Galileo officially moved from testing phase to the provision of live services.
Users around the world can be guided using the positioning, navigation and timing information provided by Galileo’s global satellite constellation. The system will be fully operational in 2020.
THE MYGALILEOAPP PRIZE CONTEST
Do you have an innovative idea for an application that could benefit from the precise positioning offered by Galileo? Whether it’s in the area of augmented reality, geo-marketing, smart navigation, social networking or otherwise – the European GNSS Agency wants to help you take your idea from concept to reality.
The prize is 1m EUR. The deadline for submission is 28 March 2019. Information about the prize is available here.
Interested? Learn more here
