ESA plans for low-orbiting navigation satellites

Satellite tv for pc navigation is headed nearer to customers. ESA’s Navigation Directorate is planning an in-orbit demonstration with new navigation satellites that may orbit just some hundred kilometers up in space, supplementing Europe’s 23 222-km-distant Galileo satellites. Working added-value indicators, these novel so-called ‘LEO-PNT’ satellites will examine a brand new multi-layer satnav system-of-systems method to ship seamless Positioning, Navigation and Timing providers which are far more correct, sturdy and obtainable all over the place.

World in protection, free for everybody to make use of, World Navigation Satellite tv for pc Methods (GNSS) similar to Europe’s Galileo have already reworked our society, and as a consequence of their sheer omnipresence their affect continues to develop. In 2021, the inhabitants of satnav receivers reached 6.5 billion receivers world wide and the sector is projected to keep up a ten% annual development charge within the years forward.

However in numerous respects the usual GNSS method is nearing the boundaries of optimum efficiency—to get even higher, added substances have gotten important.

“Satellite tv for pc navigation has enabled an unlimited vary of functions lately, however this very success is inspiring nonetheless extra demanding person wants for the approaching decade,” notes Lionel Ries, head of ESA’s GNSS Evolutions R&D staff, overseeing the Company’s LEO-PNT research.

“To be used circumstances similar to autonomous automobiles, ships or drones, robotics, Good Cities or the commercial Web of Issues for management of manufacturing facility techniques, the positioning necessities are rising from the present meter-scale to centimeter scale or much more exact, primarily based on repeatedly dependable indicators which are obtainable anyplace, anytime—even indoors –whereas in a position to overcome interference or jamming.

“Up till now the classical resolution of GNSS similar to Galileo, situated in medium Earth orbit and primarily based on L-band indicators, has been what we depend on for our positioning. Normal GNSS alone just isn’t going to have the ability to fulfill all these future person calls for. As a substitute Europe must seize the chance to research the potential of the form of low Earth orbit (LEO) constellations which are already on the way in which within the global market to allow new sorts of Positioning, Navigation and Timing (PNT) providers.”

Just by advantage of physics, with much less of a distance to cowl right down to Earth, the indicators from these LEO PNT satellites will be extra highly effective, in a position to overcome interference and attain locations the place at the moment’s satnav indicators can not attain.

And by adopting a wider vary of sign bands the satellites can tackle specific person wants: as an example at decrease orbits the satellites themselves transfer extra quickly relative to Earth’s floor—consider the Worldwide Area Station at 400 km that orbits the Earth each 90 minutes—which presents attainable benefit within the time wanted to succeed in very correct positions. Additionally some bands may supply better penetration in troublesome environments whereas different bands may supply greater robustness and precision.

The aim of ESA’s plan to carry out an in-orbit demonstration of low Earth orbiting satnav satellites is exactly to consolidate the varieties of indicators, enabling applied sciences and their potential for future providers.

The plan is to construct and fly an preliminary mini-constellation of a minimum of half a dozen satellites to check capabilities and key applied sciences, in addition to demonstrating indicators and frequency bands to be used by a follow-on operational constellation, in the identical manner that Europe’s GIOVE check satellites paved the way in which for Galileo. Success will place European trade in pole positions for follow-on industrial undertakings, in addition to deliberate institutional applications.

“Every particular person satellite could be comparatively small, beneath 70 kg in mass, in comparison with a 700 kg present Galileo operational satellites,” provides Roberto Prieto-Cerdeira, Galileo Second Technology satellite payload supervisor, and LEO-PNT mission preparation supervisor as a part of ESA’s FutureNAV program.

“They are often comparatively extra streamlined as a result of they’ll profit from different means to calculate the correct time with out extraordinarily exact atomic clocks on-board—together with relayed indicators from the Galileo satellites above them. These satellites would even be constructed on a speedy batch manufacturing foundation to save lots of time and value—we’re focusing on three years on the most from signing the contracts to the primary satellites in orbit, the identical form of timescale achieved by GIOVE-A within the early 2000s.”

“It’s ESA’s ambition to make sure Europe maintains a world-class space trade, and navigation at the moment kinds the one largest downstream space sector, value about €150 billion yearly and rising on the charge of 10% per yr,” feedback ESA Director of Navigation Javier Benedicto-Ruiz. “Standing nonetheless just isn’t an possibility; as a substitute we have to discover new technical avenues to spur European competitiveness and commercialization.”

An operational model of the LEO-PNT constellation would characterize an entire new layer for PNT supply, mixed with conventional GNSS in addition to 5G/6G-based positioning on the bottom, and fused with knowledge from sensors within the person terminals.

Curiosity from trade

ESA has been researching core parts of the LEO-PNT idea since 2016. Now, quite a few low Earth orbit constellations already taking form across the globe, the time is true to maneuver from fundamental analysis to in-orbit demonstration.

Curiosity from European trade within the LEO-PNT mission has been very excessive, proven by a current Request for Data the place ESA introduced particulars of how firms and establishments would possibly take part and a lot of firms registered and introduced attainable ideas and contributions.