October 21, 2011

scientists comment on the Galileo satellite launch

Europe’s first satellite-navigation spacecraft were launched into orbit.

Dr Martyn Thomas CBE FREng, Chair of the GNSS Reliance and Vulnerabilities study for the Royal Academy of Engineering, said:

“The successful launch of two Galileo satellites into Medium Earth Orbit will start building the initial operational capability of Galileo, which is scheduled for the middle of the decade.

“Galileo is the European Global Navigation Space System. It will complement GPS (USA), GLONASS (Russia), COMPASS (China) and similar systems, giving Europe a GNSS that is wholly under European control.

“Galileo will interwork with GPS, which will increase coverage and accuracy. It also has several technical characteristics that have been designed to improve resilience and to detect errors and failures.

“Nevertheless, like GPS and the other GNSS signals, the Galileo signal is transmitted from over 10,000 miles above the earth’s surface, and Galileo therefore shares many of the vulnerabilities that the Royal Academy of Engineering described in its recent report “Global Navigation Space Systems, Reliance and Vulnerabilities”. The signal is weak and can be jammed accidentally or deliberately, and the satellites are vulnerable to major solar weather events. Galileo and GPS cannot therefore be considered adequate backups for each other in critical applications.

“The Academy’s report recommended investment in a high-power, terrestrial, low frequency alternative to GPS and Galileo. The best candidate remains the enhanced LORAN system, eLoran, that has been researched and developed in the UK by the General Lighthouse Authorities.”