ESA chooses Airbus for SBAS
EGNOS v3 (European Geostationary Navigation Overlay Service), the next generation of the European Satellite Based Augmentation System (SBAS) is planned to improve and secure safety-of-life services for civil aviation as well as provide new services to maritime and land users. The system is being developed by ESA on behalf of the European Commission and the European GNSS Agency (GSA), with ESA selecting Airbus as the prime contractor. EGNOS v3 is expected to improve the accuracy and availability of positioning services from existing GNSS (Galileo and GPS).
A contract was signed Jan. 26 at ESA’s technical centre in the Netherlands and EGNOS V3 is planned to enter service in 2025. ESA Director of Navigation Paul Verhoef signed the contract with the senior vice president of Airbus Defence and Space, Mathilde Royer Germain, in the presence of senior managers of the European Global Navigation Satellite System Agency (GSA) and of the European Commission
Aside from safety-of-life services, EGNOS also provides integrity messages to users with alerts sent out within a few seconds in the event of system degradation, as well as robustness against increasing security risks through the use of L5 second frequency.
EGNOS v3 will be the first operational SBAS implementing the dual-frequency and multi-constellation world standard, with both GPS and Galileo. Replacing EGNOS v2 which has been operational since 2011, EGNOS v3 will provide continuity of service for the next decade. In 2023, the single-frequency version will be available to replace the current operational version and, 18 months later, the final version in dual frequency will be delivered.
As the prime contractor, Airbus will be responsible for the development, integration, deployment and preparation of EGNOS v3, leading a consortium with partners from France, Germany, Spain and Switzerland.
EGNOS began offering its Open Service for non-safety-of-life uses in October 2009, with its Safety-of-Life Service became available for aircraft navigation in March 2011. EGNOS is comprised of a network of around 50 ground stations over Europe, Africa and North America, with two master control centres near Rome and Madrid, and a System Operation Support Centre in Toulouse.
