The European commission together with the European Space Agency is developing the European satellite navigation system Galileo. This along with the GLONASS system of Russian satellites aims to provide valuable support to the mainstream US GPS system. Whilst the GLONASS system is also military controlled, the Galileo system is firmly Civil operated and hopes therefore to provide a more ultimately dependable service for European users.

The European GNSS Supervisory Authority web site states:
“GALILEO is to be the one and only European global navigation satellite system. Up to now, GNSS users in Europe have had no alternative other than to use American GPS or Russian GLONASS satellite signals. Yet the military operators of these systems can give no guarantee to maintain uninterrupted service……If GNSS signals were switched off tomorrow, ship and aircraft crews around the world would be hard-pressed to revert to traditional navigation methods. As the use of satellite navigation spreads, the implications of signal failure become even greater, jeopardising not only the efficient running of transport systems, but also human safety.”

These developments along with other emerging international systems (China, India and Japan) are seen as huge improvements to the overall service in terms of realising greater satellite availability and an increase in the real-time capability, improving performance and gaining ground on accuracy for positioning approaching the 10 cm up to 1 mm level.

It has also meant that software designers and hardware manufacturers have had to move quickly to take advantage and make allowances for this global co-operation in operating systems to ensure that they can pass on the capabilities to the consumers- that’s us the surveyors.

The buzz word now is “GNSS compliant” and “future proof technology”.