UK satnav augmentation system proposed

News & Press: Space

09 December 2021 (0 Comments)

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UK-based Inmarsat is working on a UK Space Agency-funded project with the European Space Agency (ESA), plus partners Goonhilly Earth Station Ltd and GMV NSL of Nottingham, to deliver the first UK-generated satnav overlay.

By repurposing a transponder from the Inmarsat-3 F5 (I-3 F5) satellite, the UKSBAS project will provide an overlay signal to augment GPS, refining the precision from a few metres to a few centimetres and confirming its legal usability for safety-critical applications such as aircraft landing and ships berthing.

This is required because, since leaving the EU, the UK no longer has access to the European Geostationary Navigation Overlay Service (EGNOS) Safety-of-Life services and is now not involved in the Galileo programme.

I-3F5 is in geosynchronous orbit at 54°W, ensuring that its signal covers the UK as part of its Atlantic Ocean region service overlay. The satellite was manufactured by Lockheed Martin and launched in 1998.

Further details from UKSpace