Overview
PNT services provide accurate positioning, navigation, and timing information, which is essential for civil, commercial and military operations. This information comes primarily through Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) and other complementary systems.
Galileo, Europe’s satellite navigation system, and EGNOS, which enhances the accuracy of satellite navigation, are the backbone of Europe’s PNT infrastructure (see more). [LINK to general info on PNT below]. At the JRC we shape their definition, evolution and the services they provide.
We also assess complementary and alternative PNT technologies, terrestrial timing services, and hybrid solutions to deliver PNT through communication infrastructures.
This work is supported by the JRC’s PNT lab, the Galileo PRS User Segment Lab and the European Microwave Signature Laboratory, part of our Testing Facilities for Space, Connectivity and Quantum (TOSCA).
Galileo and EGNOS evolution
For many years the JRC has played a prominent role in the development of the European GNSS programmes, Galileo and EGNOS.
As these programmes evolve, new PNT services are being introduced to deliver innovative capabilities and added value to users. Since their inception, the JRC has made substantial contributions to the definition and technical validation of these services.
These include Galileo services such as Open Service Navigation Message Authentication (OSNMA), High Accuracy Service (HAS) and Emergency Warning Satellite Service (EWSS).
The JRC laboratories play a particularly important role through testing and validation activities on the user segment for those services, supporting receiver manufacturers to develop compatible technologies.
Galileo services exploitation in space
Galileo signals can be used by spacecraft beyond the navigation system’s primary coverage on Earth. The JRC conducts research into the use of Galileo signals and services in space, supported by a dedicated laboratory testbed within the PNT lab.
The testbed enables the testing and validation of Galileo spaceborne receivers, as well as the exploration of innovative processing techniques tailored to space applications.
An important contribution in this domain is the Galileo Reference Antenna Pattern (GRAP) model, which was produced by the JRC in collaboration with the Directorate-General for Defence Industry and Space (DG DEFIS) and the European Space Agency (ESA). GRAP provides a common reference for understanding how Galileo signals are transmitted in different directions around the Galileo constellation, including the weaker signals that reach space users outside the main beam.
Support to Galileo Public Regulated Service
The Galileo Public Regulated Service (PRS) is an encrypted navigation service for governmental authorised users and sensitive applications that require high continuity.
The JRC supports the development and evaluation of PRS-related projects and facilitates laboratory tests in representative environments in the JRC PRS User Segment Laboratory, hosted within a security-accredited facility. The lab hosts a number of key PRS items, including reference receivers, simulators and specific tools for the definition and verification of PRS test vectors.
PNT services of the future
The JRC also supports critical activities aimed at developing PNT services in the future.
Low-Earth Orbit PNT
Low-Earth Orbit PNT (LEO-PNT) is a new technological trend that aims to add a layer of satellites closer to the earth’s surface to provide PNT services. Several LEO-PNT initiatives are being conceived and proposed world-wide from both the private and public sector. The JRC is supporting DG DEFIS and other stakeholders to assess mission requirements and corresponding architectures for a potential EU LEO-PNT to be integrated with Galileo and provide added-value services to enhance EU PNT services.
Fused-PNT
We are also investigating innovative approaches to provide PNT services using hybrid architectures, for example, where communication signals, such as 5G Non-Terrestrial Networks (NTN), are exploited to provide PNT capabilities. Such approaches, known as ‘Fused-PNT’, are being considered with a specific focus on the user segment, including the antenna system.
A European and international network
As scientific experts on EU PNT, the JRC regularly collaborates with European and international organisations in the field, including EURAMET (the European Association of National Metrology Institutes), the BIPM (the international organisation for metrology), ITU-T (the standardisation sector of the UN agency for digital technologies) and IEEE (the technical professional organisation for advancing technology).
We have partnerships with institutions such as the Istituto Nazionale di Ricerca Metrologica (INRiM) and CERN and our TOSCA lab supports these relationships as a key enabler for experimental activities. A key element of this ecosystem is the use of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) as the temporal reference and the International Terrestrial Reference Frame (ITRF) as the spatial reference, providing a common and and traceable reference framework for PNT services.
The JRC also supports a broader, international dialogue on PNT challenges and solutions, building on its collaborations with these organisations.
Support to policy
Space-based PNT services such as Galileo and EGNOS play an essential role in modern infrastructure, technology and society. Billions of users rely on them for a wide range of applications and services, from smartphones to transport, electricity, telecommunication and water. PNT supports applications ranging from navigation and positioning in transport to the precise timing and synchronisation needed for critical infrastructure, and will also support emerging applications such as autonomous driving.
This widespread use of PNT has significant economic and social impact in the EU, enabling more than 10% of European gross domestic product (GDP), with a value exceeding €14 trillion.
Given the strategic importance of PNT, the EU is looking at evolving its existing space-based systems to address new user needs and at complementing it with a diversified and resilient EU-wide PNT ecosystem.
JRC activities on PNT support the implementation of the EU Space Programme and the European Radio Navigation Plan (ERNP). The EU Space Programme provides the framework for Galileo and EGNOS, while the ERNP supports the uptake of PNT services across different sectors and identifies actions at EU level, including in legislation and standardisation. PNT also contributes to the implementation of sector-specific EU policies where positioning, navigation and timing services are needed.
