Receivers key to Galileo success
Europe’s navigation system requires new receiver designs to make use of the transmissions from its satellite constellation. European industry is developing and supplying receivers for the in-orbit validation of the system.
With the launch on 28 December 2005 of GIOVE-A, the first Galileo satellite, Galileo, a joint programme of the European Space Agency and the European Commission, became a reality in space.GIOVE-A allowed Europe to secure the frequencies allocated to Galileo by the International Telecommunications Union and test the new, critical technologies needed for this future, civil satellite navigation system. The main component of the mission is, of course, the satellite built by Surrey Satellite Systems Ltd in the United Kingdom. However, the validation mission would not have been possible without several developments on the ground and, in particular, the equipment that allows reception of the signals transmitted by the satellite.
[full article ESA]
