Credit: ESA, Galileo antenna at Kiruna

Telemetry, Tracking and Command (TT&C) Stations collect and forward telemetry data generated by the Galileo satellites and distribute and uplink the control commands required to maintain the Galileo satellites and constellation in nominal operational conditions.

Credit: EUSPA

The Galileo Open Service (OS) enables free of charge, global ranging, positioning and timing. The Open Service is the most commonly used Galileo service enabling all range of applications.

Credit: EUSPA

Galileo Public Regulated Service (PRS) is restricted to government-authorised users, for sensitive applications that require a high level of service continuity. PRS is primarily intended for use by EU Member State government authorised users, Access to PRS is controlled through operational and technical means, including governmental grade encryption. Users not granted access to the service will be unable to access any information from the signal.

Credit: EUSPA

The Search and Rescue (SAR)/Galileo service is the biggest contributor to the Cospas-Sarsat MEOSAR programme in terms of ground segment and space segment assets. It provides the two services, the SAR/Galileo Forward Link which relays Cospas-Sarsat 406Mhz distress signals to the ground and the SAR/Galileo Return Link which is an unique return link alert that informs the sender that their distress alert has been received.

Credit: ESA, Ariane 5 flight VA233 on launch pad

Galileo offers the High Accuracy Service (HAS) aimed at applications that require higher accuracy than that offered by the Galileo Open Service. The Galileo’s High Accuracy Service (HAS) will provide free of charge high accuracy PPP corrections for Galileo and GPS to achieve real-time improved user positioning performances.

Galileo’s Ground Control Segment (GCS) in Oberpfaffenhofen (Germany) is in charge of satellite and constellation control and planning. The GCS handles spacecraft housekeeping and constellation maintenance by means of the network of TT&Cs stations globally distributed. The scope of this functionality includes control and monitoring of the satellites and payload, planning and automation functions that allow safe and correct operations to take place and the support of payload related operations.

The European GNSS Service Centre (GSC) in Spain provides the single interface between Galileo and the users of the Galileo Open Service (OS). The GSC is conceived as a centre of expertise, knowledge sharing, custom performance assessment, information dissemination and support to the provision of valueadded services enabled by the Galileo OS.

Credit: ESA, Galileo’s Nouméa ground station’s Sensor Station and Uplink Station

Galileo ground station in New Caledonia includes an Uplink Station (ULS) which distributes and uplinks the mission data to the Galileo constellation and a Galileo Sensor Station (GSS) which collects and forwards Galileo SIS measurements and data to the GCCs in real time.

The Galileo programme reference documents are a set of openly available Galileo service definition, interface control documents and information and technical notes describing the performance, signals and services provided through the Galileo SIS.

Credit: ESA, Galileo constellation

Galileo is Europe’s Global Satellite Navigation System (GNSS), providing improved positioning and timing information. The complete Galileo constellation consists of 24 satellites along three orbital planes.

Spaceopal, a joint venture by DLR GfR mbH and Telespazio is the prime contractor for the operational services of Galileo and is the world’s largest navigation satellite service operator.

Credit: ESA, Galileo in smartphones

Galileo is fully interoperable with other GNSS systems like GPS, Glonass, Beidou and QZSS. Interoperability allows users to benefit better accuracy and a more reliable navigation solution.

Credit: ESA, Soyuz VS01 liftoff

The first 14 Galileo satellites were liftoff of an Soyuz/Fregaz 5 flight from Europe’s Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana. First launch took place on 21th October 2011, carrying GSAT 101 and 102.

E14 was placed in an anomalous orbital plane due to a launcher upper stage failure hindering use for navigation and it is set unhealthy.

Credit: ESA, Galileo quartet placed atop Ariane 5

The Galileo constellation keeps on growing with 6 planned launches in 2021 and 2022 which will place in orbit 12 new Galileo satellites GSAT 223 to 234.

Credit: ESA, Galileo_In-Orbit_Validation_satellite

The Full Operational Capability (FOC) satellites are 22 Galileo spacecrafts. These Galileo satellites completed the constellation for full service.

E18 was placed in an anomalous orbital plane due to a launcher upper stage failure hindering use for navigation and it is set unhealthy.

As Service Operator of Galileo, Spaceopal is the key partner of European Global Navigation Satellite Systems Agency (EUSPA). The EUSPA’s mission is to support European Union objectives and achieve the highest return on European GNSS investment, in terms of benefits to users and economic growth and competitiveness.

Credit: ESA, Galileo satellite

The In-Orbit Validation (IOV) satellites are the first 4 spacecrafts of Galileo. These first four Galileo satellites aim to prove that the space and ground segments meet the mission’s requirements and validate the system’s design in advance of completing the rest of the constellation. GSAT 104 is unavailable from 27th May 2014.

The Open Service Navigation Message Authentication (OSNMA) is a free additional capability of the Galileo Open Service (OS), that is going to be available worldwide. It authenticates data for geolocation information through the Navigation Message (I/NAV) broadcast on the E1-B signal component. This is achieved by adding authentication-specific data (mainly message authentication codes (MACs) and keys, plus additional data for configuration purposes) in previously reserved bits of this message. OS-NMA follows a protocol known as TESLA (Timed Efficient Stream Loss-Tolerant Authentication), which only requires public keys to process the OS-NMA data, avoiding the need to securely store private keys in the receivers.

Credit: ESA, Galileo satellite

Galileo satellites carry several antennas. The L-band antenna transmits the navigation signals to the users, the 406MHz SAR antenna picks up distress signals, the L-band SAR antenna broadcasts the distress signals back to the rescue centres. The lifetime of the satellites is limited by the complex subsystems on board as it was the case of the GSAT 204 that was removed from active service on 8th December 2017 for constellation management purposes.

Credit: ESA, Galileo’s global ground segment

Galileo’s ground segment is located worldwide and includes two Galileo Control Centres in Germany and Italy, the GNSS Service Centre in Spain, the Galileo Security Monitoring Centre (GSMC) in France, the Time Service Provider (TSP) and the Geodetic Reference Service Provider (GRSP). The infrastructure is completed with several Telemetry, Tracking & Control stations (TT&C), Uplink Stations (ULS) and Galileo Sensor Stations (GSS) distributed worldwide.

Galileo broadcast navigation signals in three different frequency bands E1 (1575.42MHz), E6 (1278.75MHz) and E5 (1191.79MHz). The E5 signal is sub-divided into E5a and E5b. Each signal carries ranging codes and modulated data. Galileo satellites receive SAR signals in the 406MHz band and broadcast SAR return link in the E1 band.

Credit: ESA, Galileo lifts off

Twelve Galileo satellites were liftoff of an Ariane 5 flight from Europe’s Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana. Latest launch took place on 12th December 2017, carrying GSAT 219 to 222.

Credit: EUSPA

The Galileo user segment is the set of all devices capable of collecting Galileo signals. The user segment varies significantly depending on the applications. Galileo enables a wide range of applications like navigation, timing, agriculture, transport, location-based services, IoT or science.

Credit: EUSPA

Galileo’s Ground Mission Segment (GMS) in Fucino (Italy) manages Galileo navigation services including navigation message and precision timing generation. The GMS determines the navigation and timing data part of the navigation messages by means of the network of GSSs. The GMS communicates with the Galileo satellites through the network of ULSs.

Credit: ESA, Galileos deployed

Galileo user segment measures the time of arrival of Galileo signals. Galileo satellites and user segment are synchronized by using the Galileo System Time (GST). The GST start epoch happened 13 seconds before 0:00:00 UTC on Sunday, 22 August 1999.

NAVCAST is Spaceopal’s Galileo and GPS augmentation system in the context of Precise Point Positioning (PPP) techniques. PPP techniques allow centimeter-level positioning applications worldwide without additional raw measurements from local reference stations.

The Galileo HAS User Terminal is the first GNSS receiver develop to use the corrections from Galileo HAS.  The User Terminal implements the Galileo Reference HAS User Algorithm which is a real-time precise positioning algorithm processing Galileo HAS corrections, Galileo L-Band observables and, in the case of a multi-constellation configuration, GPS L-Band observables. The Galileo HAS User Terminal was developed by Spaceopal.

Credit: EUSPA

SAR beacons tracked by Galileo are standard 406 MHz radio transmitting devices that conform to SAR specifications and construction requirements according to its intended use like Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacons (EPIRBs) and Ship Security Alert System (SSAS) for maritime applications, the Emergency Locator Transmitters (ELTs) and ELT Distress Tracking (DT) for aviation applications, or Personal Locator Beacons (PLBs) for personal use.

Credit: ESA, Galileo antenna at Kiruna

Telemetry, Tracking and Command (TT&C) Stations collect and forward telemetry data generated by the Galileo satellites and distribute and uplink the control commands required to maintain the Galileo satellites and constellation in nominal operational conditions.

Credit: EUSPA

The Galileo Open Service (OS) enables free of charge, global ranging, positioning and timing. The Open Service is the most commonly used Galileo service enabling all range of applications.

Credit: EUSPA

Galileo Public Regulated Service (PRS) is restricted to government-authorised users, for sensitive applications that require a high level of service continuity. PRS is primarily intended for use by EU Member State government authorised users, Access to PRS is controlled through operational and technical means, including governmental grade encryption. Users not granted access to the service will be unable to access any information from the signal.

Credit: EUSPA

The Search and Rescue (SAR)/Galileo service is the biggest contributor to the Cospas-Sarsat MEOSAR programme in terms of ground segment and space segment assets. It provides the two services, the SAR/Galileo Forward Link which relays Cospas-Sarsat 406Mhz distress signals to the ground and the SAR/Galileo Return Link which is an unique return link alert that informs the sender that their distress alert has been received.

Credit: ESA, Ariane 5 flight VA233 on launch pad

Galileo offers the High Accuracy Service (HAS) aimed at applications that require higher accuracy than that offered by the Galileo Open Service. The Galileo’s High Accuracy Service (HAS) will provide free of charge high accuracy PPP corrections for Galileo and GPS to achieve real-time improved user positioning performances.

Galileo’s Ground Control Segment (GCS) in Oberpfaffenhofen (Germany) is in charge of satellite and constellation control and planning. The GCS handles spacecraft housekeeping and constellation maintenance by means of the network of TT&Cs stations globally distributed. The scope of this functionality includes control and monitoring of the satellites and payload, planning and automation functions that allow safe and correct operations to take place and the support of payload related operations.

The European GNSS Service Centre (GSC) in Spain provides the single interface between Galileo and the users of the Galileo Open Service (OS). The GSC is conceived as a centre of expertise, knowledge sharing, custom performance assessment, information dissemination and support to the provision of valueadded services enabled by the Galileo OS.

Credit: ESA, Galileo’s Nouméa ground station’s Sensor Station and Uplink Station

Galileo ground station in New Caledonia includes an Uplink Station (ULS) which distributes and uplinks the mission data to the Galileo constellation and a Galileo Sensor Station (GSS) which collects and forwards Galileo SIS measurements and data to the GCCs in real time.

The Galileo programme reference documents are a set of openly available Galileo service definition, interface control documents and information and technical notes describing the performance, signals and services provided through the Galileo SIS.

Credit: ESA, Galileo constellation

Galileo is Europe’s Global Satellite Navigation System (GNSS), providing improved positioning and timing information. The complete Galileo constellation consists of 24 satellites along three orbital planes.

Spaceopal, a joint venture by DLR GfR mbH and Telespazio is the prime contractor for the operational services of Galileo and is the world’s largest navigation satellite service operator.

Credit: ESA, Galileo in smartphones

Galileo is fully interoperable with other GNSS systems like GPS, Glonass, Beidou and QZSS. Interoperability allows users to benefit better accuracy and a more reliable navigation solution.

Credit: ESA, Soyuz VS01 liftoff

The first 14 Galileo satellites were liftoff of an Soyuz/Fregaz 5 flight from Europe’s Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana. First launch took place on 21th October 2011, carrying GSAT 101 and 102.

E14 was placed in an anomalous orbital plane due to a launcher upper stage failure hindering use for navigation and it is set unhealthy.

Credit: ESA, Galileo quartet placed atop Ariane 5

The Galileo constellation keeps on growing with 6 planned launches in 2021 and 2022 which will place in orbit 12 new Galileo satellites GSAT 223 to 234.

Credit: ESA, Galileo_In-Orbit_Validation_satellite

The Full Operational Capability (FOC) satellites are 22 Galileo spacecrafts. These Galileo satellites completed the constellation for full service.

E18 was placed in an anomalous orbital plane due to a launcher upper stage failure hindering use for navigation and it is set unhealthy.

As Service Operator of Galileo, Spaceopal is the key partner of European Global Navigation Satellite Systems Agency (EUSPA). The EUSPA’s mission is to support European Union objectives and achieve the highest return on European GNSS investment, in terms of benefits to users and economic growth and competitiveness.

Credit: ESA, Galileo satellite

The In-Orbit Validation (IOV) satellites are the first 4 spacecrafts of Galileo. These first four Galileo satellites aim to prove that the space and ground segments meet the mission’s requirements and validate the system’s design in advance of completing the rest of the constellation. GSAT 104 is unavailable from 27th May 2014.

The Open Service Navigation Message Authentication (OSNMA) is a free additional capability of the Galileo Open Service (OS), that is going to be available worldwide. It authenticates data for geolocation information through the Navigation Message (I/NAV) broadcast on the E1-B signal component. This is achieved by adding authentication-specific data (mainly message authentication codes (MACs) and keys, plus additional data for configuration purposes) in previously reserved bits of this message. OS-NMA follows a protocol known as TESLA (Timed Efficient Stream Loss-Tolerant Authentication), which only requires public keys to process the OS-NMA data, avoiding the need to securely store private keys in the receivers.

Credit: ESA, Galileo satellite

Galileo satellites carry several antennas. The L-band antenna transmits the navigation signals to the users, the 406MHz SAR antenna picks up distress signals, the L-band SAR antenna broadcasts the distress signals back to the rescue centres. The lifetime of the satellites is limited by the complex subsystems on board as it was the case of the GSAT 204 that was removed from active service on 8th December 2017 for constellation management purposes.

Credit: ESA, Galileo’s global ground segment

Galileo’s ground segment is located worldwide and includes two Galileo Control Centres in Germany and Italy, the GNSS Service Centre in Spain, the Galileo Security Monitoring Centre (GSMC) in France, the Time Service Provider (TSP) and the Geodetic Reference Service Provider (GRSP). The infrastructure is completed with several Telemetry, Tracking & Control stations (TT&C), Uplink Stations (ULS) and Galileo Sensor Stations (GSS) distributed worldwide.

Galileo broadcast navigation signals in three different frequency bands E1 (1575.42MHz), E6 (1278.75MHz) and E5 (1191.79MHz). The E5 signal is sub-divided into E5a and E5b. Each signal carries ranging codes and modulated data. Galileo satellites receive SAR signals in the 406MHz band and broadcast SAR return link in the E1 band.

Credit: ESA, Galileo lifts off

Twelve Galileo satellites were liftoff of an Ariane 5 flight from Europe’s Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana. Latest launch took place on 12th December 2017, carrying GSAT 219 to 222.

Credit: EUSPA

The Galileo user segment is the set of all devices capable of collecting Galileo signals. The user segment varies significantly depending on the applications. Galileo enables a wide range of applications like navigation, timing, agriculture, transport, location-based services, IoT or science.

Credit: EUSPA

Galileo’s Ground Mission Segment (GMS) in Fucino (Italy) manages Galileo navigation services including navigation message and precision timing generation. The GMS determines the navigation and timing data part of the navigation messages by means of the network of GSSs. The GMS communicates with the Galileo satellites through the network of ULSs.

Credit: ESA, Galileos deployed

Galileo user segment measures the time of arrival of Galileo signals. Galileo satellites and user segment are synchronized by using the Galileo System Time (GST). The GST start epoch happened 13 seconds before 0:00:00 UTC on Sunday, 22 August 1999.

NAVCAST is Spaceopal’s Galileo and GPS augmentation system in the context of Precise Point Positioning (PPP) techniques. PPP techniques allow centimeter-level positioning applications worldwide without additional raw measurements from local reference stations.

The Galileo HAS User Terminal is the first GNSS receiver develop to use the corrections from Galileo HAS.  The User Terminal implements the Galileo Reference HAS User Algorithm which is a real-time precise positioning algorithm processing Galileo HAS corrections, Galileo L-Band observables and, in the case of a multi-constellation configuration, GPS L-Band observables. The Galileo HAS User Terminal was developed by Spaceopal.

Credit: EUSPA

SAR beacons tracked by Galileo are standard 406 MHz radio transmitting devices that conform to SAR specifications and construction requirements according to its intended use like Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacons (EPIRBs) and Ship Security Alert System (SSAS) for maritime applications, the Emergency Locator Transmitters (ELTs) and ELT Distress Tracking (DT) for aviation applications, or Personal Locator Beacons (PLBs) for personal use.