Image: GMV
GMV has been selected by the European Space Agency (ESA) and the European Union Agency for the Space Programme (EUSPA) to develop the Galileo second-generation system test bed (G2STB). The G2STB will provide ESA with a key system verification and validation facility in support of its role as Galileo system development prime, enabling a wide range of Galileo system monitoring, troubleshooting, prototyping and experimentation activities.
GMV will deliver four G2STB versions over five years. Among these modules, the G2 high accuracy service (HAS) data generator and monitor aims to improve the Galileo HAS that was declared operational in January.
Other early capabilities of the G2STB include an upgraded orbit determination and time synchronization facility — capable of processing inter-satellite link data, a time service monitoring module, an integrity support message generator, a signal authentication service, an authentication validation module, an emergency warning service module, an ISL simulator and a G2G message composer.
The G2STB project aims for a smooth transition from the Galileo first-generation to the second-generation, building onto the G1G legacy system tools. The G2STB is one of the key infrastructure elements that ESA is developing for the correct functioning of the Galileo second-generation satellites.
The G2STB will eventually replace and upgrade the capabilities of the two first-generation facilities, the Galileo system evaluation equipment and the time and geodetic validation facility (TGVF-X). The latter, developed and operated by GMV over the last decade, has played a key role in monitoring the Galileo signals and system validation activities during the Galileo exploitation phase. The TGVF-X is also contributing to the early validation of new capabilities and elements being rolled out in recent and upcoming Galileo System updates.
In parallel to the development phase, the G2STB will help upgrade the network of Galileo experimental sensor stations to process new signals and capabilities to ensure the availability of a G2-capable, worldwide, multi-constellation network of receivers and bit-grabbers — independent from the operational Galileo sensor stations.