EGNOS - SBAS GPS Correction

What is EGNOS?

EGNOS European Geostationary Navigation Overlay System

“When you get a GPS navigation signal, how do you know you can trust it?” asks Laurent Gauthier, the EGNOS project manager at the European Space Agency. “EGNOS will tell you whether you can trust the signal. It will tell you that you are at a particular spot with a high degree of certainty and definitely within an area enclosed by a circle with the spot at the center. In effect, it will give you your position and say by how much it could be out.”

EGNOS is Europe’s first venture into satellite navigation. It will augment the two military satellite navigation systems now operating the US GPS and Russian GLONASS systems, and make them suitable for safety critical applications such as flying aircraft or navigating ships through narrow channels.

Consisting of three geostationary satellites and a network of ground stations, EGNOS will achieve its aim by transmitting a signal containing information on the reliability and accuracy of the positioning signals sent out by GPS and GLONASS. It will allow users in Europe and beyond to determine their position to within 5 m compared with about 20 m at present.

EGNOS is a joint project of the European Space Agency (ESA), the European Commission (EC) and Eurocontrol, the European Organisation for the Safety of Air Navigation. It is Europe’s contribution to the first stage of the global navigation satellite system (GNSS) and is a precursor to Galileo, the full global satellite navigation system under development in Europe.

Additional Information:

• EGNOS