14 DAY TRIAL // On Friday, March 9, officials from the European Space Agency (ESA) and aerospace company Thales Alenia Space signed a new contract for the strengthening of the European Geostationary Navigation Overlay Service (EGNOS). The goal is to protect this asset from the effects of solar storms.
Additionally, officials are looking to make the satellite navigation augmentation service future-proofed, as in, capable of withstanding a host of challenges and potential modifications it may have to undergo.
EGNOS was officially launched on October 1, 2009, with the express purpose of improving the reliability and accuracy of satellite signals. What it basically does is significantly refine GPS measurements and positioning data.
This has important applications for aviation, where planes can now be guided with meter-level precision. This comes in very handy during night landings, or when airports are covered in fog, or in heavy rainfall.
At this point, EGNOS relies on data from three geostationary satellites, and on a relatively widespread network of ground stations. With the new agreement, officials seek to eliminate the potential for signal ‘scintillations’ and time delays that the system is currently vulnerable to.
The contract is especially relevant now, as we are approaching a new maximum in the Sun's 11-year cycle. The time of greatest solar activity is expected to occur in May 2013, and will continue throughout most of 2014.
During this interval, numerous sunspots are expected to develop, many of which will produce solar flares of various intensities. Some of these events will trigger coronal mass ejections (CME) that will throw billions of tons of electrically-charged particles towards Earth.
Satellites, the International Space Station, terrestrial power grids and in-flight aircraft are susceptible to damage from such CME, as is the EGNOS system. Taking into account what is coming, ESA wants to ensure that it will not lose its newest, satellite-based capability.
“ESA is now acting as the design and procurement agent on behalf of the EC [European Commission] for all major EGNOS system changes throughout its operational lifetime, as well as preparing for the next-generation EGNOS expected around 2020,” a press release from ESA states.
“The work order also covers planned EGNOS mission evolution, including keeping pace with GPS modernization, provision of vertical guidance for aircraft landings and extending the EGNOS network to cover North Africa and the Middle East,” the document concludes.