On September 7th and 8th, GMV participated in the Space-Comm Expo, which is the UK’s largest space exhibition focused on the commercial future of space for the aerospace and defence industries. This year’s event had support from ADS, KTN, UKspace, the European Space Agency (ESA), and the United Kingdom (UK) Space Agency. At the Expo, which was held in Farnborough near London, GMV had a stand and also presented the UK’s new satellite-based navigation signal, known as UK SBAS. UK SBAS is a testbed designed to demonstrate an improvement in the performance of satellite navigation specifically for the UK.

The primary aim of the UK SBAS project has been to rapidly establish a new national capability, using an Inmarsat geostationary satellite (GEO) currently in orbit, GMV’s satellite-based augmentation system (SBAS) software, which is responsible for data monitoring and processing, and the ground station operated by Goonhilly Earth Station Ltd in Cornwall, which is providing the SiS uplink to the GEO navigation transponder. The navigation signal from the demonstrator is now live. This means that the UK SBAS project will be assisting with the evaluation of options, in view of a future operating capability that will provide services for GPS users and other global navigation satellite system (GNSS) networks. The live signal in space also provides added value to GNSS users within the transport domains by providing improved positional accuracy along with the assurance that the system is fit to use for their particular operation.

On September 7th, attendees at the Space-Comm Expo had an opportunity to attend the event dedicated to introducing and demonstrating the UK SBAS programme. This introduction took place in two sessions: during the first session, GMV gave a presentation on the development of the SBAS testbed, while during the second session, it demonstrated the achievements that have already been put in place. Attendees included representatives from the government, transport regulators, the military, commercial organisations and ESA.

At the GMV stand (G10), our robotics and on-board autonomy team had two demonstrators on display: a robotic arm and a tracked rover platform. The robotic arm showcased the GNC software controlling the arm alongside the algorithms that enable the arm (and spacecraft) to perform rendezvous and close proximity operations (RCPO). The tracked rover platform with its navigation and mapping payloads showcased the ability of the robotic platform to autonomously navigate GPS-denied environments while constructing a topological representation of the terrain using the on-board processor. Our satellite control team also held relevant discussions on mission planning.