NovAtel Inc, a precise positioning technology company, announced that it has been granted temporary authorization by the European Space Agency (ESA) to sell Galileo/Giove-A receivers to a limited number of specified companies, making NovAtel one of the first GNSS manufacturers to sell Galileo receivers. NovAtel has had a production standard receiver and antenna available since early 2006, however ESA has restricted external sales up to now.
In the meantime ESA has conducted an intense internal test campaign with GIOVE-A for over a year. GIOVE-A is the first Galileo test satellite and has been in orbit since December 2005. Galileo is the European Union’s state-of-the-art Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS), which is expected to be fully operable from 2010 with up to 30 satellites orbiting the earth. It is designed for both civilian and government purposes and will be controlled and operated by civil management.
"I am very pleased that ESA has selected NovAtel as one of the few GNSS manufacturers authorized to sell a functional Galileo receiver," said Tony Murfin, NovAtel’s Vice President, Business Development. "We have a number of customers who are anxious to purchase combined function GPS/Galileo EuroPak-15a receivers and this authorization will allow us to now supply them.
There are several organizations, such as government agencies and universities, which are interested in accessing the GIOVE-A Galileo test satellite data for evaluation and initial applications development. This decision will allow the wider community outside the ESA in-house campaign to join in GIOVE-A evaluation and test. These receivers were developed in conjunction with the Canadian Space Agency and track L1/L5 GPS or L1/E5a Galileo."
NovAtel has been involved in the development of Galileo technology since 2000. Most recently, NovAtel announced that it was the first company outside Europe to be accepted as a Full Member of Galileo Services, a non-profit organization made up of a consortium of businesses and agencies involved with Galileo satellite system downstream technology and services.
Check www.novatel.com for more information.
