Thales Alenia Space entrusted by ESA to build a prototype of the next generation of ground station for the European satellite navigation system EGNOS 

September 27, 2021

Thales Alenia Space, a joint venture between Thales (67 %) and Leonardo (33 %), has been selected by ESA in the frame of the Horizon 2020 program, for a new contract to design and develop a prototype of the next generation of ground station for the European Geostationary Navigation Overlay Service (EGNOS), called NLES-Next (Navigation Land Earth Station).

The NLES is the EGNOS uplink station endorsing the task of EGNOS Signal In Space generation that is used by EGNOS to support critical positioning applications like aircraft navigation and landing. This element is a major contributor to the overall EGNOS system performances.

In the fast evolving and increasingly challenging positioning applications that could benefit from EGNOS capabilities, the NLES modernization is a key enabler.

Through this contract, Thales Alenia Space will offer a new generation NLES prototype embracing modularity, flexibility, scalability, and a high level of segregation to incrementally support new services like EGNOS data authentication or Integrity for High Accuracy Service. It will also exhibit boosted robustness at cyber security, and SiS levels to face new threats sources, thus unlocking the potential of the overall system to support a wide range of applications: from civil aviation, to rail, road, maritime, and from Safety of Life (SoL) service to non-SoL service.