Thales Alenia Space, the joint venture between Thales (67%) and Leonardo (33%), has signed its first contract with the EU Agency for Space Programme (EUSPA), to provide new capabilities to Europe’s EGNOS satellite navigation system.
With this contract, Thales Alenia Space will start the development of a new EGNOS version for Europe by developing a new generation uplink station (NLES, Navigation Land Earth Station) allowing the introduction of new GEO satellites in the system for improved redundancy. This new generation of stations would be also compatible with the future emission of Dual Frequency & Multi-Constellation messages (i.e. future introduction of dual-frequency algorithms and usage of the Galileo and GPS constellations).
“Today’s contract signature bolsters Thales Alenia Space leadership position in SBAS and satellite navigation. Supported by a strong R&D activity, we are currently developing and testing with success SBAS next-generation architectures and capabilities. The strong dynamic we experience on our SBAS export markets in Asia, Africa & Indian Ocean demonstrate our solution global attractiveness for our customers” said Benoit Broudy, Navigation Vice President at Thales Alenia Space in France.
EGNOS, a flagship program of the European Union, is the European satellite navigation system, designed to improve positioning messages from GPS (Global Positioning System). First deployed in 2005, with its open service operational since 2009, the current EGNOS system was developed by Thales Alenia Space as prime contractor and is managed by EUSPA since 2014.
Click here to learn more about EGNOS.
Click here to learn more about SBAS.
