News

Just 60 nautical miles off Svalbard, in the freezing arctic waters, the second-largest rescue operation was deemed successful thanks to Galileo Search and Rescue capabilities.

Copernicus imagery and reference data coupled with EGNOS and Galileo positioning data enable the development of new services and applications that can act as a protective shield to the natural habitats of our planet.

The European Union Agency for the Space Programme, EUSPA, is launched today marking the start of a new era for EU Space. Building on the legacy of the European GNSS Agency, EUSPA will take on more responsibilities to create even more opportunities from Space for EU citizens and its economy.

Beacon Awareness Day (#406Day) on April 6 is an opportunity to celebrate the amazing work carried out by Search and Rescue teams around the world that risk their lives on a daily basis to save people in distress. It also aims to remind the owners of Search and Rescue beacons the need to register their beacon and test them in a regular basis, in particular for what concerns their batteries and, for those already registered, to update their Cospas-Sarsat contact details.

The EUROCAE “ED-277 - Minimum Aviation System Performance Standard for Aircraft Emergency Locator Transmitter Remote Command Via Return Link Service” has been published and is available. It describes the characteristics of remote command via the Return Link Service for Emergency Locator Transmitter Distress Tracking - ELT(DT) - in particular for remote beacon activation and deactivation. Today, only Galileo provides Return Link capability.

A year after declared operational, the Galileo Return Link Service has been exceeding the performance levels committed in the SAR/Galileo Service Definition Document. With the recent upgrade in its European ground facilities, Galileo SAR is leading the way as an important component of the International Cospas-Sarsat Programme.

The latest upgrades carried out on the SAR/Galileo Local User Terminals of Spain, Cyprus and Norway, earlier in the summer are helping the International COSPAS-SARSAT Programme transition towards MEOSAR completion.

The European GNSS Agency (GSA) is launching the 2020 editions of its Galileo User Satisfaction Survey and EGNOS User Satisfaction Survey. These surveys play an important role in the evolution of the EGNSS programmes by feeding users’ needs and requirements into programme development.

European Space Week 2020 kicked off on Monday 7 December with the User Consultation Platform (UCP) plenary, where users from different market segments presented the results of work carried out during the UCP over the previous week. Copernicus users were included in the UCP for the first time, and possible services and applications arising from synergies between Copernicus and Galileo were very much in focus.

The 3rd edition of the User Consultation Platform (UCP) for the European Space Programme will take place on 1-2 December, ahead of European Space Week 2020. This is a unique opportunity for the rapidly expanding community of space tech users to inform the organisations and institutions that oversee the programme of their experience and requirements, helping to shape the future evolution of the system. Don’t miss this opportunity to have your say – register now.