The Institute's President has warned of the effects of losing EGNOS.
“The UK’s precipitous withdrawal from statutory agreements on the use of the European Geostationary Navigation Overlay Service (EGNOS) will adversely impact several transportation systems” warned Cynthia Robinson OBE, as she assumed the role of President of the Royal Institute of Navigation.
“Some UK regional airports have invested significantly in EGNOS, but the legislation underpinning its Safety-of-Life (SoL) service was withdrawn on 25 June 2021. The signals will still be transmitted by EGNOS satellites, but any pilot tempted to use these in the UK will no longer be indemnified should an accident or incident occur”, she advised.
“The EGNOS system not only improves accuracy in certain situations and locations but, importantly, quickly indicates any malfunction of GPS satellites”, added Cynthia. “Humans tend to believe implicitly the position they see on a screen and forget that the signals may have become corrupted en route from distant satellites”.
“The recent withdrawal of the legal indemnity for aviation EGNOS use in the UK could ultimately affect ships, autonomous vehicles and beyond visual line-of-sight (BVLOS) drones as well, unless a replacement solution can be secured quickly. The shipping industry will need to consider appropriate solutions for UK waters, as future maritime EGNOS Safety-of-Life services will no longer be made available to the UK in 2023. Possible future wider EGNOS V3 SoL services overlaying GPS and Galileo will also be denied to the UK”, warned the President.
“The Royal Institute of Navigation is working closely with the UK government on the implications of the loss of the EGNOS augmentation Safety-of-Life services, as well as advising on how best to build resilience, integrity and improved security into the positioning and navigation technologies that affect just about every aspect of our modern lives” concluded Cynthia Robinson.
For further information, please contact Clare Stead, RIN Communications Officer, at comms@rin.org.uk
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