Alan Le Priellec, European Space Agency (ESA)
Roberto Prieto Cerdeira, European Space Agency (ESA)
Pietro Giordano, European Space Agency (ESA)
Nori Ait-Mohammed, European Space Agency (ESA)
Alan Le Priellec, LEO-PNT Principal Satellite System Engineer, European Space Agency (ESA)
A broad range of Positioning, Navigation and Timing (PNT) capabilities have been enabled by Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) supporting many areas in society and global economy. As reported in EUSPA EO and GNSS Market Report 2024, GNSS global revenues will rise from more than €260 billion in 2023 to around €580 billion in 2033, with shipments of GNSS receivers worldwide reaching 2 billion units per year by 2027. Despite the major impact of PNT in economy and society, jamming and spoofing events are disrupting services in different sectors on a daily basis. In this respect, complementary and alternative PNT is claimed by many user communities. In addition, digital mobility, autonomous vehicles and the future of transportation require increased availability and high-accuracy everywhere with the lowest possible waiting time (global fast-convergence of precise positioning). Consumer applications demand technology agnostic seamless solutions irrespective of their location, with increased attention towards three areas: positioning indoor in particular in large public and commercial spaces; solutions supporting positioning and navigation for personal safety in hazardous situations through the use of consumer devices; and, energy-efficient solutions that reduce the battery consumption for mobile devices, in particular for the fast-increasing Internet-of-Things devices market. The Market Report identifies how the incorporation of LEO satellites in GNSS solutions has the potential to address those needs and resolve those challenges. The European Radionavigation Plan (2023) already identifies LEO as part of promising emerging technologies and conceives that the “EU PNT ecosystem should become a System of PNT systems to achieve resilient PNT”.
The LEO-PNT IOD Component of the ESA FutureNAV Programme aims at demonstrating the potential of PNT in low Earth orbit. Its first mission will feature a small constellation of 10 demonstration satellites (large cubesats and microsats) to prototype the technology, to test the use of novel signals and frequency bands in representative environments of the end-users, showcasing the potential towards exceptional resilience, accuracy and agility in navigation that can enable a long list of new applications and services. Two parallel LEO-PNT In Orbit Demonstrators development contracts started in March 2024 with the first pair of satellites ready for launch by end of 2025 and the full demonstration in 2027.
This presentation will provide an overview of the satellites being developed on the ongoing IOD projects including the main challenges and opportunities, such as adoption of more stringent Space Debris policy, and also present the plans for the next phases of LEO-PNT in preparation of potential future operational opportunities as a LEO layer of European GNSS.