Navigation

Knowing your precise position at the touch of a button – this is something that Columbus and Magellan on their seminal voyages of discovery would have certainly have appreciated.

Using fixed stars, it is possible to calculate one’s position anywhere on the Earth’s surface to within a few hundred meters, provided the weather is fine. Navigation satellites, however, broadcasting extremely precise time signals (in the order of nanoseconds) using on-board atomic clocks triangulated by ground units, enable instant accurate position determination down to the metre in all weather conditions, day or night. All that is needed is a receiver to pick up the signals.

Guiding the way

Many cars are now routinely equipped with satellite navigation devices to help drivers determine the most advantageous route and provide information on road congestion. Hikers and recreational mariners and pilots rely on satellite navigation for their safety in sometimes perilous conditions. In business, civil aviation, land and hydrographic surveying, agriculture and vehicle fleet tracking are the principal uses of the technology. It is even possible to buy satellite navigation-based implants for your beloved pooch which not only let you know his whereabouts but also his heart-rate and temperature …

Currently, the US GPS (Global Positioning System) enjoys a virtual monopoly of satellite navigation provision, but this is set to change. The new European global satellite-based navigation system Galileo, an EC–ESA initiative, will radically widen the scope of exploitation and reliability. Offering many levels of service to satisfy all user categories, from commercial to public, Galileo will be interoperable with, but independent from, GPS. Crucially, as the system will be fully under civil control, it will be able to deliver guaranteed quality and consistency for safety-critical applications where human life is involved – occasionally a serious shortcoming of GPS, flagged up by aircraft pilots. Moreover, the projected scale of future satellite navigation applications and coverage demands cannot be met by a single system.

Galileo is envisaged as a central infrastructure which will be integrated with communications and broadcasting systems to generate new applications. With Galileo, satellite navigation will be much more than simply knowing where you are. The most obvious use is transport (road, rail, air, maritime) but the timing functions extend to a whole range of other sectors, such as engineering, power supply, data encryption, banking, tourism and recreation, and search and rescue operations.

Deployment of Galileo will herald the creation of efficiency-enhancing, revenue-generating products and services, to benefit everybody, everywhere. An autonomous satellite navigation system is a central plank of the European space policy: Galileo will mark the end of Europe’s strategic dependence on externally-controlled systems in this vital technology field.