At a press conference, European Commission Vice-President for Transport Policy, Mr Antonia Tajani, announced the official start of EGNOS operations.
EGNOS (the European Geostationary Navigation Overlay Service) has been operating in a test phase since 2006 and the news that it is at last available to all users with EGNOS compatible GPS receivers is long overdue.
American users have had their equivalent service WAAS (Wide Area Augmentation Service) for some time and the Japanese are developing their version called MFAS (Multi-Functional Satellite Augmentation System).
EGNOS uses an augmentation system consisting of transponders aboard three geostationary satellites in position over Europe and the Eastern Atlantic. These satellites are linked to a network of 40 ground stations and four control centres.
EGNOS improves GPS accuracy from approx 20m to close to 2m and the open service is provided free of charge.
Developed as a pan-European project between ESA, the European Commission and Eurocontrol. The European Commission is responsible for management of the service.
RECENT BLOG COMMENTS