Emma Kelly/LONDON
The European space and navigation industry has a hard job to complete this year. By the end of it, it must have a clear idea of the shape of the continent's second-generation satellite navigation system - Galileo.
Little is known about the system today, except that it should be ready for service by 2008, will be a result of a public-private partnership (PPP) and is likely to cost Europe between c2.2 billion ($2.17billion) and €3 billion by the time it comes on line.
If this task is not hard enough, Europe is also developing the first stage of its answer to global navigation satellite system (GNSS) requirements in the shape of the European Geostationary Navigation Overlay System (EGNOS).
Since Galileo was announced last year the spotlight has been off the EGNOS, which is probably just as well for its Tripartite Group developers - the European Commission (EC), the European Space Agency (ESA) and Eurocontrol - in light of the largely negative initial reaction to the proposal from Europe's airlines. Nevertheless, EGNOS development continues.
The EGNOS is designed to provide aeronautical, maritime and land-based users of the system with differential global positioning system (GPS) corrections to improve the accuracy, availability, integrity and continuity of the GPS over the European Civil Aviation Conference (ECAC) region and beyond. Initial operational capability is planned for early 2003, a slight slippage from the original schedule caused by changes necessitated by the International Civil Aviation Organisation's GNSS standards and recommended practices (SARPs), which were completed last year.
When the EGNOS was originally designed, its mission requirements were pre-SARPs and, although the post-SARPs changes are "not really major changes", says Alex Steciw from ESA's directorate of applications, they will add €25 million to EGNOS costs. The main development phase is likely to cost €190 million, with annual running costs of €25-27 million.
The EGNOS space segment will comprise two Inmarsat-3 satellites - Atlantic Ocean Region East (AOR-E) and Indian Ocean Region - and the Artemis data communications satellite.
While the space segment of the system is finalised, the ground plans continue to be "tweaked", according to the EC. The ground infrastructure will comprise about 40 ranging and integrity monitoring stations (RIMS), four mission processing and control centres, six navigation land earth stations and the EGNOS wide area network.
EGNOS progresses
EGNOS work "is progressing well", says Steciw, following the award of the prime contractorship to Alcatel Space last June. The EGNOS System Test Bed has recently been completed and is operational, allowing the system developers to conduct demonstrations to promote the EGNOS and assess the performance of the system.
According to the latest EGNOS schedule, the critical design review is set for the end of this year, with site integration starting in mid-2002 and the operational readiness review to be completed in the first quarter of 2003. By early 2003, the Tripartite Group partners aim for EGNOS to support Category I precision approaches throughout the ECAC region.
Discussions are ongoing to extend the coverage to Africa and India. "We've had discussions over the last couple of years via ASECNA [Agency for the Security of Aerial Navigation in Africa and Madagascar] and these talks are still taking place," Steciw says. Also, the Tripartite Group has had "many meetings" with Japan on interoperability of the EGNOS with Japan's Multi-function Transport Satellite (MTSAT) system, which could lead to ground infrastructure sharing to fill gaps between the European and Japanese systems. "We have shown that, by adding two or three RIMS, we could provide a seamless service for non-precision approaches in regions between the [EGNOS and MTSAT] coverage areas," Steciw adds.
While system development is under way, major areas of EGNOS operations are yet to be finalised and these vital decisions must all be made by year-end. Among these are the political and legal agreements with the countries in which EGNOS monitoring stations will be located. "There is some debate on what needs to be in place, but these agreements should be finalised as a matter of urgency," says the EC. Meanwhile, one of the "hot topics" to be decided is that of control and operation of the EGNOS, concedes Steciw.
The major issue of interest to aeronautical users, that of cost recovery, also remains to be finalised. "There has to be remuneration, but how that works is not decided. It's a service provider decision really," says the EC. The EGNOS Operators Group, comprising the UK's National Air Traffic Services, Germany's DFS, AENA of Spain, ENAV of Italy and France's DNA, has already invested €100 million in EGNOS development.
Cost recovery is under discussion, but must be finalised by the end of this year, says Steciw. "The situation looks complex, with many things to be decided, but we have frequent meetings with the EGNOS Operators Group," he adds.
The Tripartite Group has always argued that the EGNOS is a necessary first stage towards Galileo and as a result "integration of EGNOS in Galileo is an important issue". EGNOS integration is just one aspect of the extensive studies that continue as part of the Galileo definition phase. This stage, which will run until the end of this year, also includes the PPP, technical definitions of the system architecture and legal, operational and international aspects. "This phase will end with a comprehensive paper on where we stand," says the EC, which will allow the commission to make a decision to launch development of the system.
Pietro Lo Galbo, head of ESA's navigation department, says: "All uncertainties must be given answers in this [definition] phase. Today, we have the ideas, but no real answers." By the end of the year, "the answers must be on the table", he says. After definition, the development stage will run to late 2005, when the validation and test phase will start, continuing to 2007. Full operational capability is due in 2008.
Late last year, the EC and ESA launched the €20 million GalileoSat definition phase, designed to answer all of the questions. Alenia Aerospazio heads the study, which involves more than 50 European subcontractors. In addition, four major contracts were awarded to the European aerospace industry to define aspects of Galileo.
The €27 million Galileo Overall Architecture Definition (GALA), led by Alcatel Space and involving 60 European companies, is defining Galileo's mission specification, the global architecture and system specifications. Galileo will feature a minimum of 21 satellites in medium Earth orbit, with three geostationary Earth orbit satellites. Alcatel Space has also been tasked with leading an industrial consortium exploring integration issues with the EGNOS. Meanwhile, Racal heads a consortium investigating Galileo service definition, and Sextant leads activities exploring Galileo standardisation issues.
A critical issue will be the system's interoperability with the GPS and Russia's Glonass. Although Galileo will be independent of the GPS, full interoperability with the system is vital. "Talks are ongoing with the USA [on GPS interoperability]. These are taking shape, but they don't have a lot of substance at the moment. In March, we expect interoperability discussions to step up a gear," says the EC.
Meanwhile, talks are planned with Russia at the end of this month on that country's involvement in Galileo development. "These are different discussions from those with the USA. Russia wants a full part in Galileo. They have expertise in running a satellite system and they have industrial advantages, so there are a lot of points where co-operation with Russia would be mutually beneficial," the Commission adds.
Task force established
Work is also under way on the PPP, with a task force established to determine who wants to invest in the system and at what levels. Galileo is expected to cost €2.2-3 billion between 1999 and 2008. Funding will come initially from European agencies, including the EC's Trans-European Network budgets (€500 million), research and development budgets (€250 million) and €500 million from ESA. Annual operational costs from 2008 are estimated at €140-205 million.
The EC believes this investment is justified by the fact that Galileo will allow European industry to gain access to the GNSS market. ESA predicts that satellite navigation equipment sales - for all modes of user - in Europe by 2025 will reach €135 billion, while up to 146,000 jobs are likely to be created, with Galileo expected to support around 20,000 workers during its development and manufacturing phase and 2,200 during its operation. But, before Europe can benefit from this market, the continent's aerospace and navigation industry has some work to do.
Source: Flight International
