Daimler-Benz Aerospace (DASA) and the German Aerospace Research Establishment (DLR) are embarking on a programme to develop key components of a future European Navigation Satellite System (ENSS).
The ENSS has now been adopted as one of DASA's lead research projects. Over the next two to three years, the partners are planning to invest DM60 million ($40 million) in the development of systems, including a simulator to test the interaction between satellites, ground stations and users, an interference-resistant antenna and a navigation computer.
The German company's workshare will be carried out by its Dornier Satellite Systems subsidiary.
DASA says that the ENSS will cost DM2.1 billion to develop, and will consist of a network of 12 satellites which will be able to give position information accurate to within 5m. The programme will yield a European satellite-navigation system independent of the military-controlled US and Russian systems, and will have applications in aviation and surface navigation.
The partners say that the appeal of the US global-positioning system and its Russian GLONASS counterpart is limited by availability and by the fact that the accuracy of the navigation signals is artificially reduced for civil users. The ENSS system will be compatible with both networks.
DASA estimates that the annual operational cost of the system will be DM200 million, which could be covered by a 3-5% surcharge on equipment and/or user charges. DASA president Manfred Bischoff expects a substantial global market for satellite-navigation equipment in the coming decade.
Bischoff and DLR chairman Walter Kröll insist that the ENSS must be produced as a European joint project.
Source: Flight International
