A small forest of antennas sprouts from the roof of ESA's Navigation Laboratory, based at the ESTEC technical centre in the Netherlands, which is among the most frequently satnav-fixed locations on Earth. This is also the site of the very first Galileo positioning fix, acquired back in 2014 using the first quartet of Galileo satellites.

"The antenna is a critical component of any Global Navigation Satellite System user segment, capturing power from the electromagnetic waves it receives, then converting it into electrical current to be processed by the rest of the receiver chain," explains Radio Navigation Engineer Michelangelo Albertazzi.

"Up here we have a variety of antenna designs in place - such as omnidirectional, high gain and arrays - from leading world receiver manufacturers, which acquire signals from all major global GNSS constellations, including Galileo, GPS, the Russian Glonass and China's Beidou, as well as regional systems such as Europe's EGNOS."

The NavLab is also equipped with state-of-the-art equipment to record, replay and analyze the RF signals picked up by these antennas, to help with its main goal of performing tests, analyses and characterisation of navigation systems for both ESA and external customers.

To find out more about working with ESA facilities, check our new website on the duties and resources of ESA's Directorate of Technology, Engineering and Quality.

Related Links
ESTEC technical centre
Space Technology News - Applications and Research

Tweet

Thanks for being here; We need your help. The Space Media Network continues to grow but revenues have never been harder to maintain. With the rise of Ad Blockers, and Facebook - our traditional revenue sources via quality network advertising continues to decline. And unlike so many other news sites, we don't have a paywall - with those annoying usernames and passwords. Our news coverage takes time and effort to publish 365 days a year. If you find our news sites informative and useful then please consider becoming a regular supporter or for now make a one off contribution.
SpaceMediaNetwork Contributor $5 Billed Once credit card or paypal		SpaceMediaNetwork Monthly Supporter $5 Billed Monthly paypal only

Access to the 'SpaceDataHighway'
Berlin, Germany (SPX) Jan 18, 2022
The 'Columbus Ka-Band Terminal' (ColKa) has commenced service. "The volume of scientific data generated by the experiments on the International Space Station (ISS) is continuously increasing. ColKa gives the Columbus laboratory on the ISS its own direct access to the SpaceDataHighway. The high-speed satellite link will significantly accelerate 'data traffic' to Europe. Many scientists will benefit from this with their experiments - during Matthias Maurer's 'Cosmic Kiss' mission and Italian astrona ... read more