2019 Fellow

Presented to: Dr. Oliver Montenbruck

Citation: For pioneering contributions to GPS for navigation of space vehicles, the advancement of multi-GNSS understanding and tracking networks to support scientific and societal benefit.

Dr. Oliver Montenbruck is head of the GNSS Technology and Navigation Group at DLR’s German Space Operations Center, Oberfaffenhofen, and an affiliated professor for GNSS at the Technical University of Munich.

Dr. Montenbruck’s research activities have been primarily devoted to spaceborne GNSS applications, where he made outstanding contributions in the fields of receiver technology, autonomous navigation systems, spacecraft formation flying and precise orbit determination. Over the past decade, Dr. Montenbruck focused on the new satellite navigation systems, where he pioneered the advancement of monitoring networks, characterization of new navigation signals, GNSS performance assessment, and multi-GNSS processing. He pioneered the expansion of global monitoring networks for new GNSSs and modernized GNSS signals – initiating the Cooperative Network for GNSS Observation (CONGO), which has been a primary source of information for early assessment of Galileo, BeiDou, GPS L2C and L5 signals. His leadership and research for the Multi-GNSS Project of the International GNSS Service (IGS) have contributed to a thorough understanding of new GNSS constellations, enabled the full exploitation of new signals and advanced satellite technology, and finally made multi-GNSS available to a wider community.

The quality, depth, and impact of his work are reflected in his publication record, which includes more than 100 peer-reviewed journal papers, numerous conference contributions and three textbooks. He is also a co-editor and -author of the Springer Handbook of Global Navigation Satellite Systems that presents a comprehensive and modern reference on GNSS with a depth and breadth driven by Dr. Montenbruck.

Dr. Montenbruck is the recipient of the ION’s Kepler Award (2018) and Tycho Brahe Award (2006), DLR Senior Scientist Award, and GPS World Leadership Award. He received the diploma in physics and astronomy from Ludwig Maximilians Universität München in 1987, PhD in 1991 and Habilitation in 2006 from the Technical University of Munich.