The Galileo Satellite Navigation Programme

By Luke Anthrobus, Harjinder Chaggar & Derek Debrah

A report focused on the Galileo Satellite Navigation Programme which is a current E.U. initiative proposed to promote transport cooperation and the interoperability of modes of transport within the European Union.

5th January 2012

1. Introduction
An efficient transport system is an essential prerequisite for the European Unions competitiveness. With the projected growth of international trade, the possible extension of the Union to the Central and Eastern European countries and enhanced cooperation with the Mediterranean countries, the role of transport will become even more important (European Commission, 2001). Present figures put the costs of traffic congestion at 120 billion ECU or 2 % of the EU GDP. Accidents, air pollution and noise amount to a further 2 %. These costs undermine European competitiveness, when transport demand requires flexibility, reliability and cost-effectiveness. In an attempt to address some of the issues faced by freight transport within the European Union, The European Commission and The European Space Agency worked together closely to create an initiative. This initiative promotes transport cooperation as well as the interoperability of modes of transport. This initiative is known as the Galileo Satellite Programme. The Galileo programme is Europe's initiative for a state-of-the-art global satellite navigation system, providing a highly accurate, guaranteed global positioning service under civilian control (European Commission, 2011). Estimated to cost 20 billion euros, the Galileo project is Europe's own global navigation system. When complete, it is expected to consist of 30 satellites. This initiative was brought about to ensure that European economies' are no longer dependant on other countries systems' such as the American GPS (Global Positioning Service) and the Russian GLONASS system. The problem with GPS and GLONASS is that they are both military satellites which are made available to civil users but could deny access at any time so they have no guarantee of continuity. Furthermore, the European Commission (EC) estimates that 6-7% of European GDP around 800 billion Euros by value is already dependent on satellite navigation currently provided by US GPS or Russian Glonass satellites (BIS, 2011). Consequently, with many companies utilising satellite guidance within their operations, if the signals were switched of tomorrow many companies using freight would struggle to revert back traditional navigation methods. Nonetheless, Galileo will be inter-operable with GPS and GLONASS, the two other global satellite navigation systems (European Commission, 2011). For this report, we will be focusing on how the Galileo Satellite project is applied, the positive results that are expected from the project, the benefits for the E.U. Member States to adopt it in their transport legislation and we will also analyse the occasional problems that may occur from the complexity of the decision making in the E.U.

2. Application of Galileo Satellite Programme

The Galileo Satellite is often referred to as a Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS). The term global navigation satellite system (GNSS) refers to a constellation of satellites providing signals from space transmitting positioning and timing data. By definition, a GNSS provides global coverage (EGNOS, 2011). Galileo is expected to become operational in the year 2014. However, Galileo is not Europes first venture into satellite navigation. That title goes to The European Geostationary Navigation Overlay

Service (EGNOS). EGNOS is already operational. Currently, EGNOS improves the open public service offered by the USAs Global Positioning System (GPS). EGNOS makes GPS suitable for safety critical applications such as flying aircraft or navigating ships through narrow channels (see the EGNOS video for more information). Known as a satellite-based augmentation system (SBAS), EGNOS provides both correction and integrity information about the GPS system, delivering opportunities for Europeans to use the more accurate positioning data for improving existing services or developing a wide range of new services (EGNOS, 2011). EGNOS is compatible with Galileo and this relationship between EGNOS and Galileo will further improve the accuracy of satellite navigation signals over Europe which will make it more efficient in challenging environments than a traditional GPS receiver (European Commission, 2011). However, when EGNOS is combined with GPS, EGNOS brings associated benefits to the Galileo system in terms of both accuracy and availability (European Commission, 2011). In terms of applying the Galileo Satellite Programme, The European Commission is committed to six priority domains which are; applications for individual handsets and mobile phones (LBS), road transport, aviation, maritime transport, precision agriculture & environmental protection and civil protection & surveillance (European Commission, 2011). However, due to the nature of this report, only four of these domains are relevant; road transport, aviation and maritime transport.

2.1 Road Transport

Just under half of the revenues generated by Global Navigation Satellite Systems are sourced from intelligent transport systems made for road transport; road transport is its second most important segment. An important way in which Galileo can be applied within road transport is by implementing road user charging. As Galileo and EGNOS will be capable of tracking real-time vehicle movements on European roads, a road toll collection systems based on the Galileo Satellite System allows a more efficient use of the road infrastructure, reducing both traffic and environmental effects (European Commission, 2011).

2.2 Aviation
Traditionally aviation relies on costly ground radio navigation systems near airports such as ILS (Instrument Landingplane System) for landing operations. EGNOS can be used for en-route navigation and allows for IFR-like (Instrument flight rules) operation in non ILS equipped airports (European Commission, 2011).

Furthermore, EGNOS may increase airports capacities and avoid the installation of expensive land based navigation aids by reducing the angle of approach and bringing a better lateral guidance. (European Commission, 2011).

2.3 Maritime

GNSS services are already being utilised within the maritime and inland waterway sectors of freight. Nonetheless, EGNOS and Galileo, combined with GPS, can contribute to a safer and more efficient navigation owing to the better accuracy and availability provided (European Commission, 2011). A further application of the Galileo Satellite system within the maritime sector is the Search and Rescue service (SAR). Its been reported that The future Galileo SAR service will be able to detect activated distress beacons and notify the appropriate rescue body almost in real time. Moreover, a return message will be sent to the emergency beacon, notifying the victims that their distress signal has been received and that help is on its way (European Commission, 2011).

eu photo http://www.eurocartrans.org/Activities/EUAffairs/TheEUOverview.aspx Truck photo http://www.idreamsuk.com/aquarius/our_activities.php

Eurostat, 2011 http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/statistics_explained/index.php/Freight_transport_statistics#Road _freight European Commission, 2001 http://www.tsi.lv/Transport-andTelecommunication/v21_en/art03_Intermodality_and_Intermodal.pdf European Commission, 2011 http://ec.europa.eu/enterprise/policies/satnav/galileo/index_en.htm BIS, 2011 http://www.bis.gov.uk/ukspaceagency/news-and-events/2011/Oct/countdown-to-galileolaunch EGNOS,2011 http://egnos-portal.gsa.europa.eu/discover-egnos/about-egnos/what-gnss