Galileo is a dual-use satellite positioning and navigation system (for civil and military applications) promoted by the European Union, designed by the European Space Agency (ESA) and managed by the European Union Agency for the Space Programme (EUSPA) as a sovereign European alternative to the U.S. Global Positioning System (GPS).
Leonardo participated in the G2S PRS (Galileo Ground Segment – Public Regulated Service) project to provide the Galileo system with a specific localisation, navigation and synchronisation capability for users authorised by European Union governments, for sensitive applications that require high continuity, such as Defence, firefighters, health services, search and rescue, police, coast guard, and civil protection.
The project, co-financed by the Liguria Region, the Italian Ministry of Business and Made in Italy and the European Union (through the European Regional Development Fund), is part of Priority Axis 1 “Support for the implementation of complex research activity projects” of the Liguria Regional Operational Programme FESR 2014-2020. The activities began in 2018 and ended in 2022.
Leonardo’s technological contribution was developed, in particular, on two components of the system. The first, the user segment, for which the receivers were developed that are mounted on board the vehicles of the entities that use the PRS service to give them reliable and precise information on position and time; and the second, the ground segment, for which the ground control infrastructure software was provided to ensure that sensitive information on the use of the service is managed and protected in the most correct way.
