News Release
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 27, 2013
European Secured Navigation Arrives with First Galileo PRS-only Positioning
Farnborough, UK | Leuven, Belgium – QinetiQ and Septentrio jointly announced
today that another major milestone in the Galileo European Navigation Satellite
System’s development and deployment programme has been achieved. On the 12th
March 2013, staff at the European Space Agency at ESTEC, Noordwijk, The
Netherlands, achieved the first ever navigation solution using only the encrypted
Galileo Public Regulated Service (PRS) signals broadcast by the four Galileo In-Orbit
Validation (IOV) satellites launched in 2011 and 2012. Septentrio and QinetiQ
working in close partnership developed one of the two PRS test user receivers used in
this historic first test.
PRS positioning was achieved using the Galileo PRS Test User Receiver (TUR-P)
jointly developed by Septentrio and QinetiQ under an ESA contract. For the reception
test, the receiver was installed in the PRS test facility in ESTEC and operated by
technical experts from ESA. Positioning accuracy of ~10 m was achieved, excellent
for a first test so early in the system’s deployment. The TUR-P now continues to be
used as part of the campaigns running during the GALILEO In Orbit Validation Phase.
This milestone builds on a number of previous major Septentrio/QinetiQ achievements
including:
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First ever laboratory demonstration of the PRS signal acquisition and tracking
in QinetiQ (Malvern, UK, 2006)
Successful RF compatibility test between a Galileo payload and the TUR-P
(Portsmouth, UK, 2010)
Successful Galileo end-to-end system test including the Galileo Ground
Mission Segment (GMS) and its key management facilities, satellite and TURP (Rome, Italy, 2011)
First successful reception and processing of the PRS signal from space
(Fucino, Italy, 2012)
Septentrio and QinetiQ are proud to be a key, long-term contributor to the Galileo
Programme, working closely with ESA, the European GNSS Agency (GSA) and
European industrial partners since 2003.
Leo Quinn, CEO of QinetiQ, said: “Following last year’s first successful reception and
processing of PRS signals from Galileo satellites I am very pleased to see the
programme moving forward successfully.
Achieving a first PRS-only Galileo
navigation solution is a major achievement. With positioning, navigation and timing
services increasingly critical to the safety, security and economic activity of UK and
our European neighbours QinetiQ are very proud to be contributing to the
development of Europe’s first secured satellite navigation services.
“This milestone is another important step towards the launch of operational Galileo
services and will continue to build confidence in both prospective users and the
industrial supply base. It showcases QinetiQ’s capabilities in this field and signals the
way towards the production of exciting new solutions for critical navigation and timing
applications.”
“Today, together with our partners, we take another decisive step in the early
availability of commercial PRS receivers and Septentrio is extremely proud of this
historic milestone for the Galileo programme,” commented Peter Grognard,
Septentrio, PolaRx and AsteRx are registered trademarks in the United States and/or other countries. All
other company names and products mentioned herein may be the property of their respective companies.
Septentrio’s founder and CEO. “This builds on a list of major achievements for
Septentrio since the reception of the first Galileo signal from space in 2006. We are
delighted to continue the excellent collaboration with ESA and to contribute to this
ambitious European project.”
About Galileo
Galileo, one of Europe’s largest high-technology cooperative infrastructure
programmes, will provide Europe with its own global satellite navigation system
ensuring the availability of reliable navigation services for a wide range of different
users. The Galileo system will deliver a number of navigation services including an
open service, a commercial service and the Public Regulated Service (PRS). The
PRS is an encrypted service for Government authorised users who have an enhanced
security need (such as police, security services etc). For more information on Galileo
please see the ESA website (www.esa.int) and the European GNSS Agency (GSA)
website (www.gsa.europa.eu).
GALILEO IOV is a programme sponsored by “the European Space Agency” and “the
European Union”.
About QinetiQ
A FTSE250 company, QinetiQ uses its domain knowledge to provide technical
support and know-how to customers in the global aerospace, defence and security
markets. QinetiQ's unique position enables it to be a trusted partner to government
organisations, predominantly in the UK and the US, including defence departments,
intelligence services and security agencies. Visit the website at www.QinetiQ.com.
About Septentrio
Contacts:
Septentrio
Laurent Le Thuaut
+32 16 300 800
[email protected]
QinetiQ
Press Office
+44 (0)1252 39 3500
Septentrio Satellite Navigation designs, manufactures, sells and supports highprecision OEM GNSS receivers for the most demanding professional navigation,
positioning and timing applications. Septentrio delivers breakthrough technology in the
development of high-end GNSS receivers and the integration of hybrid solutions.
Septentrio instruments offer unrestricted signal tracking capability and the most
comprehensive range of countermeasures to mitigate GNSS vulnerability. For more
information about Septentrio, please visit the website at www.septentrio.com.
[email protected]
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Visit QinetiQ
Visit Septentrio at
Stand number S3-550, at
DSEi at ExCeL in London
September 10-13, 2013
The world’s leading defence
and security event.
Follow us on twitter @QinetiQ
Washington, D.C., USA
August 12-15, 2013
Booth 3328
Follow us on twitter @septsn
Septentrio, PolaRx and AsteRx are registered trademarks in the United States and/or other countries. All
other company names and products mentioned herein may be the property of their respective companies.