A Novel, Low-Cost Galileo Demonstrator

S. Basker, A. Sage, P. Norris, S. Martin, J. Laverty, J. Davis, A. Batchelor, E. Stansfield, T. Moore, C. Hill

Abstract:	Galileo is Europe's contribution to the next generation of satellite navigation systems. When it becomes operational in 2008, it will deliver high-performance positioning and timing signals under international civil control to support the increasingly stringent demands of users. Technical progress on Galileo has, however, been slow since the middle of 2002 while waiting for programmatic issues to be resolved. In February 2003 the British National Space Centre (BNSC) awarded a contract to a team led by Helios Technology to give added momentum to the Galileo programme. Our aim was to determine the cost of providing and operating a minimal system to monitor an experimental Galileo satellite's (XSAT's) on-board clock and orbit and to produce the clock and ephemeris parameters for a navigation message to be broadcast by XSAT. Our brief was to propose a solution that re-used existing facilities; reduced risks by using established techniques, data and timing systems; focused on critical features of the system; and provided opportunities for enhancing the value of the work to UK's input to the European Space Agency. One of our greatest challenges was meeting the contract deadlines - we only had six weeks to perform the study! To do this, we brought together the top British experts with proven track records in the fields of satellite navigation, orbit determination and time synchronisation and clock modeling. We also established a sound and achievable three-phase approach based around options assessment, system design and recommendations. This paper presents the results of the first phase of the study. It starts by outlining the motivation and primary aims, before moving on to consider the approach adopted. The key technological trade-offs are then discussed and the final system presented. The paper concludes by looking at the benefits of this system to the European Galileo programme.
Published in:	Proceedings of the 16th International Technical Meeting of the Satellite Division of The Institute of Navigation (ION GPS/GNSS 2003) September 9 - 12, 2003 Oregon Convention Center Portland, OR
Pages:	2436 - 2444
Cite this article:	Basker, S., Sage, A., Norris, P., Martin, S., Laverty, J., Davis, J., Batchelor, A., Stansfield, E., Moore, T., Hill, C., "A Novel, Low-Cost Galileo Demonstrator," Proceedings of the 16th International Technical Meeting of the Satellite Division of The Institute of Navigation (ION GPS/GNSS 2003), Portland, OR, September 2003, pp. 2436-2444.
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