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New Global Navigation Satellite System service centre in
Spain to help European users access data
Galileo and the space industry in general
presents a huge opportunity for Europe, not just for companies delivering the
space infrastructures but even more for downstream industry, the people who
develop innovative applications or services.
The programme is designed to make satellite
navigation in Europe more reliable and thus more attractive for use by
commercial applications, which will help companies develop more advanced
products.
To help companies access this data, today Antonio
Tajani, European Commission Vice-President, responsible for enterprise and
industry policy, and Ana Pastor, Spanish Minister of Transport, inaugurated the
new Loyola de Palacio Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) Service Centre.
The centre will support the dissemination of
information to companies seeking to use satellite sourced data for products and
services based in a wide range of different sectors, such as agriculture,
transport and mapping.
Access to satellite data has very practical
applications
The service centre will provide information on
the status of the Galileo constellation to end-users or application service
providers, as part of a general support function to ensure they can maintain the
provision of any products or services they have constructed on the basis of the
data flow.
Data provided by Galileo satellites, once the
system is fully operations, will be used in a wide number of areas, for example
to avoid car crashes, help visually and motor impaired people navigate,
transport dangerous goods, survey costal water depth and intelligent
salt-spreading during the winter.
For more detail and examples see MEMO/12/601
GNSS Service Centre will help companies use
satellite date more effectively
The European GNSS Service Centre (GSC), operated
by the European GNSS Agency (GSA), will primarily act as an interface between
the Galileo navigation system and user communities of the open and commercial
services:
- The open service is the basic signal provided
free-of-charge.
- The commercial service (the only service likely
to be operated privately) provides a combination of two encrypted signals for
higher data throughput rate and higher accuracy of authenticated data.
Consultancy and expertise functions will also
support the developers of satellite navigation services and applications.
The centre will provide certification services
and quality stamps for the final products developed.
The GSC's objectives are to:
- Provide companies and users with general
information: provide basic services to the user community via a web portal and a
user helpdesk.
- Distribute timely service notices: information
on the system, system status and user notifications.
- Support service provision: sharing of R&D and
industry knowledge by market segment.
- Provide up-to-date information on programme
status
- Provide support to application and product
developers including access to market experts in key segments.
The GSC will evolve with the growth of Galileo
During the current Galileo In-Orbit Validation (IOV) phase, the GSC Nucleus
provides a general Helpdesk function.
From October 2013 an upgrade will be developed to
support the provision of early services with additional content and
functionality by October 2014.
By mid 2015 a new version of the GSC will be
ready to support the dissemination of commercial data through a real-time
interface.
The GSC will continue to evolve over time in
order to become fully functional in support of the Galileo Full Operational
Capability (FOC) services.
Hosting advantages for Spain
Hosting the GSC offers Spain a source of direct
and indirect benefits, as, on the one hand, it is a channel for Spain to
participate in the Galileo programme and, on the other hand, it will increase
the influx of visitors to the centre's catchment area.
The service centre involves an investment of
around 34 million euro.
Spain has financed around €4m for the preliminary
study and construction of the building, while the EU is funding the additional
€30m necessary to engineer and outfit the centre.
In addition to the jobs generated during the
construction of the centre, it will employ between 35 and 50 highly skilled
workers.
Centre located at a Spanish technology hub
The GSC is located in a fully secured environment
in Madrid, within the National Institute of Aerospace Technology (INTA)
facilities at Torrejón de Ardoz.
GSC is named after respected Spanish
Commissioner
The centre is named in memory of Loyola de
Palacio, in recognition of her work as Commissioner and Vice President of the
European Commission, during which she was a strong supporter of Galileo.