Spazio, Galileo’s New Service, 20 x 40 cm

Space, New Galileo Service at a resolution of 20 x 40 cm

The program includes 28 satellites with many made in Italy

Noordwijk, January 30. (askanews) — Thanks to the Galileo program, Europe can count on a satellite navigation system capable of delivering a horizontal accuracy of just 20cm and a vertical accuracy of 40cm; Accuracy never achieved before, much greater than American GPS and Russian Glonass.

The European Space Agency has explained that this high-precision service, called High Resolution Service (HAS), is made possible after months of testing at the European Space Research and Technology Center ESTEC, in Noordwijk in the Netherlands, to reach a higher level than real. – Timelocation correction, provided by a new data stream integrated into the Galileo signal.

The service can be used free of charge – also for security, search and rescue and civil protection purposes – worldwide by anyone with a high-end receiver and therefore, at least for the time being, not a smartphone or consumer device.

However, the signal is also available on the Internet, which opens up new prospects for its wider use in the future.

The full capacity phase of the program is managed and funded by the European Union. Today Galileo includes a constellation of 28 satellites and is already the most accurate satellite navigation service in the world, in which Italy plays a fundamental role, both for the research and development part thanks to the participation of the Italian Space Agency (ASI), and for the contribution made by the national aerospace industry, with a group Leonardo and affiliates such as Thales Alenia Space and Telespazio.

In particular with regard to satellite position sensors and the development of the Passive Hydrogen Maser, which is the heart of the system and is the most accurate ever developed for space applications.

Moreover, for the final and terrestrial infrastructure, Telespazio established one of the two control centers for constellation management on the Fucino plain (in Abruzzo).