Space

General Information about GMV’s Participation in the Galileo Program

GMV is playing a key role in developing the Galileo program’s ground segment and operations, and in developing receivers and applications for the Public Regulated Service (PRS). The activities that GMV is performing include:

• Development, evolution, and maintenance of the Galileo Ground Control Segment (GCS), with GMV as prime contractor for the European Space Agency (ESA). The GCS includes all ground segment infrastructure elements used to monitor and control the Galileo constellation, including operation of new satellites during the Launch and Early Orbit Phase (LEOP).

• Development, evolution, and maintenance of key elements for the Galileo Ground Mission Segment (GMS), such as the Orbit Determination and Synchronization Processing Facility (OSPF), and the Engineering Tools Environment (ETE) used to analyze the system performance. GMV is also participating in development of the Galileo Security Monitoring Center (GSMC) and the Point of Contact Platform (POCP) used to monitor the security and manage the PRS service, which are included in the Galileo Ground Mission Segment framework.

• GMV is the prime contractor for developing the infrastructure for various Galileo service centers, including the European GNSS Service Center (GSC), the Galileo Reference Center (GRC), the Return Link of the Galileo Search and Rescue Service (SAR‑RLSP), the High Accuracy Data Generator (HADG), and the Time and Geodetic Validation Facility (TGVF).

• GMV is currently one of the prime contractors that ESA has selected to design the second-generation of the Galileo ground segment, and it has also been selected to develop several key technology elements such as the radio frequency constellation simulator (RFCS) and the test receivers for the new signals transmitted by the second-generation satellites.

• In addition, GMV is actively participating in the Galileo program’s operations, as a member of the operations team for the Galileo Control Center located in Oberpfaffenhofen, Germany.

• The company develops applications for the Galileo Public Regulated Service (PRS) based on receivers for this service developed by GMV. GMV is also developing the systems that the Spanish Competent PRS Authority (CPA) uses for the management of its PRS user communities.

Galileo Ground Control Segment

Since 2018, GMV has been the prime contractor selected by ESA for the development, evolution, and maintenance of the Galileo Ground Control Segment (GCS), including:

• The development of all elements used for monitoring and control of the entire Galileo constellation.
• The implementation of technological evolutions in the underlying infrastructure.
• The elements needed to perform operations for new satellites during their Launch and Early Orbit Phase (LEOP).
• Cybersecurity and security accreditation tasks for the entire ground control segment.

The volume of the contract amounts to €250 million euro, and the industry consortium led by GMV includes a dozen companies and a full‑time project team with more than 150 members.

Galileo Ground Mission Segment

GMV is developing several key elements for the Galileo Ground Mission Segment (GMS), such as the Orbit Determination and Time Synchronization Processing Facility (OSPF), and the Engineering Tools Environment (ETE) used to analyze the system performance, which includes prototypes of most of the GMS elements.

GMV is also participating in the development of the Galileo Security Monitoring Center (GSMC) and the Point of Contact Platform (POCP) used to monitor the security and manage the PRS service, which are included in the Galileo Ground Mission Segment framework.

Other elements that GMV developed during the program’s earlier phases include the Integrity Processing Facility (IPF), the Monitoring Network Equipment (MNE), and the Service Products Facility (SPF).

Galileo Service Centers

GMV is Europe’s leading company for developing Galileo Service Centers, being prime contractor of the following contracts:

• Development, operation, and maintenance of the Galileo Time and Geodetic Validation Facility (TGVF) for ESA, located in the Netherlands.

• Development, operation, and maintenance of the Galileo Reference Center (GRC) for EUSPA, located in the Netherlands.

• Development and maintenance of the European GNSS Service Center (GSC) for EUSPA, located in Spain.

• Development and maintenance of the ground infrastructure needed to operate the Return Link of the Galileo Search and Rescue Service (SAR‑RLSP) for EUSPA, located in France.

• Development and maintenance of the High‑Accuracy Data Generator (HADG) for EUSPA, used for the provision of the Galileo High Accuracy Service (HAS).

Galileo Public Regulated Service

The Galileo Public Regulated Service (PRS) is a positioning service characterized by a high level of resilience and continuity of service under adverse operating conditions. Access to this service is restricted to duly authorized governmental users.

GMV is developing a variety of applications for the Galileo PRS, based on receivers for this service developed by GMV. In addition, GMV is developing the systems that the Spanish Competent PRS Authority (CPA), the National Aerospace Technical Institute (INTA), uses for the management of its PRS user communities, including those referred to as POC‑IS and secondary channel.

GMV participates very actively in PRS pilot projects, both in Spain and throughout Europe, in collaboration with military emergency units, geographical services, naval observatories, and research centers. GMV has also carried out PRS testing campaigns during various scientific expeditions in Antarctica.

GMV is part of an industry team responsible for evolution and maintenance of the Galileo Security Monitoring Center (GSMC) and the Point of Contact Platform (POCP), which are included in the Galileo Ground Mission Segment (GMS) framework. GMV is also responsible for the development of the Satellites Key Management Facility (SKMF), which is part of the Galileo Ground Control Segment (GCS).

GMV is participating in defining the evolution of the PRS, as one of the prime contractors selected by ESA to design the second generation of the Galileo ground segment, and it has also been selected to develop several key technology elements such as the radio frequency constellation simulator (RFCS) and the test receivers for the new signals transmitted by the second-generation satellites.

Galileo Program Operations

GMV is a member of the team responsible for the Galileo system operations performed at the Control Center located in Oberpfaffenhofen, Germany.

Engineers from GMV are supervising the daily contacts with the satellites, performing trend analysis, and participating in various special operational procedures, while also remaining available on-call to help resolve any contingencies that arise.

GMV’s engineers are also responsible for developing and validating new support procedures and tools for the operations, playing a key role in tasks automation. This is a fundamental aspect as the satellite constellation continues to grow, with the incorporation of new satellite models and generations.

Second Generation of Galileo

GMV is currently one of the prime contractors selected by ESA to design the second-generation Galileo Ground Segment (GSEG), which includes all elements related to control, missions, communication networks, and ground security monitoring.

ESA has also selected GMV to develop several key technology elements such as the radio frequency constellation simulator (RFCS) and the test receivers for the new signals transmitted by the second-generation satellites.

In addition, GMV is also providing trajectory optimization and mission analysis tools for the second generation of Galileo satellites.

General information on PNT technologies

Position, navigation, and timing (PNT) technologies are an essential area of specialization and practical knowledge at GMV. The company implements a variety of solutions both at the service provision infrastructure level (upstream) and at the applications level (downstream).

GMV has accumulated unrivaled experience in GNSS system engineering, processing algorithm development, critical software development, and performance analysis tool development and is one of the companies with the most relevant involvement in the European GNSS, EGNOS, and Galileo programs.

In mid-2018, the European Space Agency (ESA) awarded GMV with the contract to develop, upgrade, and maintain the Galileo ground control segment (GCS). In 2023, GMV was once again chosen by the European Space Agency (ESA) to carry out the necessary Ground Control Segment (GCS) improvements for the in-orbit control and validation of the second generation of Galileo satellites (G2G). The contract comes on top of those already signed by GMV for the first generation, bringing the total contract value since 2018 to more than €500 million. The industry consortium led by GMV includes a dozen companies and a full-time project team with more than 150 members.

Additionally, GMV has developed key components of the EGNOS system, such as the system processing center (CPF-PS), which is responsible for the generation of the correction messages broadcast to users.

Outside of the European market, GMV is involved in the development of SouthPAN (Southern Positioning Augmentation Network), a joint initiative of the governments of Australia and New Zealand to provide both countries with precise satellite positioning and navigation services.

In the applications market, GMV has been a global pioneer in the development and implementation of GNSS-based intelligent transportation systems, mobile communications, and geographical information systems (GIS). GMV offers complete turnkey solutions ready to operate in the different modes of road, rail and maritime transport; precise positioning solutions for autonomous driving, highly resilient PNT solutions for the defense and security markets, and various products and services for precise time synchronization.

Satellite-Based Augmentation System (SBAS)

GMV has developed key components of the EGNOS system, the European satellite-based augmentation system, including:

• The central processing system (CPF-PS), the backbone of EGNOS, which is responsible for the generation of the correction and integrity messages broadcast to users.

• The data access system (EDAS), which provides internet access to the messages broadcast by the EGNOS system, and access to additional value-added services for users.

• The EURONOTAM system, which generates and sends alerts (NOTAM) to aeronautical users.

• Several analysis tools, including the EGNOS system’s application-specific qualification facility (ASQF).

Outside of the European market, GMV is involved in the development of SouthPAN (Southern Positioning Augmentation Network), a joint initiative of the governments of Australia and New Zealand to provide both countries with SBAS and precise satellite positioning (PPP) services. SouthPAN is the first system with these characteristics available in the Southern Hemisphere. GMV is responsible for developing two key subsystems for SouthPAN: the Corrections Processing Facility (CPF) and the Ground Control Center (GCC). The company will also be responsible for monitoring the system performance in the region, and for ensuring that it complies with the established performance levels. In addition, GMV will be providing maintenance and support services to the system’s operation.

GMV has carried out several SBAS demonstration projects in different regions of the world, using the company’s proprietary solution called magicSBAS. magicSBAS enables streamlined implementation of an SBAS demo system in any region of the world, including second-generation multi-frequency and multi-constellation services. magicSBAS has been used with enormous success in several pilot projects in Central America, South America, Africa, Asia, Australia, and New Zealand.

Highly accurate and safe GNSS-based solution

GMV has developed its own proprietary precise positioning solution called GMV GSHARP ®, which is offered as a commercial solution for several markets, such as automobiles, precision agriculture, topography, and space.

GMV GSHARP ® provides the following information in real time:

• Global corrections (orbits, time, code and phase messages) to all GNSS constellations for high-accuracy positioning (<10 cm 95%).
• Regional atmospheric corrections for instantaneous convergence (<1min).
• ASIL-B certified integrity information for safety critical applications such as autonomous driving.
• Virtual GNSS measurements for differential positioning users such as RTK.
• Measurements from GMV’s global network of GNSS stations.

The GMV GSHARP ® correction service is based on GMV’s proprietary processing software solution, powered with data from a global network of GNSS stations owned and operated by the company. Based on a redundant infrastructure with two geographically separate centers operating 24/7, this solution enables GMV to provide service level agreements (SLA) with high levels of availability (>99.9%).

The versatility of the GMV GSHARP ® solution means it is able to cover a wide spectrum of user needs—from the users who are only looking for precision, both at the absolute (PPP) and differential (RTK) levels, to those who require integrity assurance for safety critical applications, as in the case of autonomous vehicles.

GMV GSHARP ® also includes the user solution compatible with the correction service, which can be adapted and optimized for different user platforms depending on each client’s needs and requirements. In addition to using the corrections generated by GMV’s service to provide safe and highly-accurate positioning, the user solution implements algorithms for data fusion with other sensors such as inertial sensors and odometers.

Highly resilient PNT solutions

GMV is a consolidated provider of highly resilient PNT solutions for the defense and national security markets.

The catalog of solutions offered by GMV includes:

• Solutions for the use of the Galileo Public Regulated Service (PRS), based on the family of PRESENCE receivers developed by GMV, capable to operate in primary mode, with secondary channel capability, and in server mode through integration with TETRA/LTE networks. All these solutions implement advanced interference and spoofing attacks detection and mitigation techniques.
• Advanced GNSS interference detection and analysis systems, such as srx-10i and DETECTOR.

Precise time synchronization solutions

GMV has developed its own catalogue of solutions to generate UTC time scales and distribute precise time signals through ground networks.

GMV operates a UTC system with a high-redundancy and availability architecture based on atomic clocks, which is used as the basis for generating its own UTC scale, traceable to the Spanish official time provided by the Real Observatorio de la Armada (ROA) as well as other European UTC laboratories.

This UTC system enables the company to provide the WANTime Service, which distributes UTC time through fiber optic links. The WANTime design takes into account the synchronization requirements of European MiFID II regulations for data processing centers in the financial sector. The solution ensures access to a UTC time signal in situations where an antenna cannot be installed, in environments with poor satellite visibility, or where there is a risk of interference to the signals transmitted by GNSS satellites.

The solution catalog also includes the two following products:

• The WANTime station, which is designed for ePRTC applications for the telecom market and can provide, in combination with an atomic clock, precise UTC time with the ability to operate autonomously for over 100 days in the event GNSS signals are lost.
• Low-cost, multi-band GNSS WANTime receiver for various synchronization applications, with calibrated 1PPS output, 10 MHz output and integrated NTP server.

General Information

GMV offers complete ground segments for telecommunications satellite missions, including flight dynamics, mission planning, real-time satellite surveillance and control systems, M&C ground stations, and payload management solutions.

GMV is the top independent provider of ground control systems in the world. Over 40 telecommunications operators and agencies and more than 300 satellites have selected GMV technology, and 40% of all commercial COMSATs launched in the past 10 years are controlled with our products and solutions.

Right from the start, our products navigate on the world’s leading commercial satellite platforms and provide standardized operational support for any number of satellites, whatever the model or manufacturer.

Our range of products for telecommunications enable manual and lights out operations, as well as unlimited customization options, so they adapt to our clients, and not the other way around.

GMV also provides operational support to a number of telecommunications satellite operators.

Satellite and Mission Control

GMV has worked on satellite command and control systems since 1986 and, after all those years, it has undoubtedly become the top provider for commercial telecommunications operators. Nearly 40% of the global telecommunications satellite launches are controlled by our portfolio of products, specifically the hifly® and fleet families.

GMV provides immediate support for command and control to all commercially relevant telecommunication satellite platforms, from single nanosatellites to mega-constellation solutions, including Astrium, Boeing Satellite Systems, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, Maxar, Thales Alenia Space, Mitsubishi Electric Space Systems, OHB Space Systems, ISRO, and ISS Reshetnev.

Our command and control systems are used by institutional systems on both sides of the Atlantic (NASA Goddard, NASA Johnson, USGS, JPL, ESA, EUMETSAT, CNES, etc.), as well as by commercial operators from around the world (Arabsat, Azercosmos, BRISat, Eutelsat, Hispasat, Hellas SAT, MEASAT, NBN Co, Nilesat, Optus, SES Astra, SES Americom, SES New Skies, SES-Sirius, Star One, Thaicom, Turksat, and Visiona).

Flight Dynamics

GMV is a global point of reference in operational flight dynamics systems and orbit determination. One of the keys to success lies in the excellence of its technology and its COTS products (FocusSuite^® family), which is the result of a significant and prolonged investment in R&D.

GMV is the leading provider worldwide of control centers for telecommunications satellite operators. Its best selling products are flight dynamics systems, which are now present on more than 200 satellites.

The COTS products set GMV apart from the competition, as they provide a proven multi-mission and multi-platform flight solution that can be easily configured and scaled to support future missions. In fact, GMV is not only compatible with most commercial platforms from American and European manufacturers, but also with manufacturers from other regions, including Asia, as is the case for MELCO.

The GMV FocusSuite^® family covers a wide range of support products for flight dynamics operators in all types of missions, such as GEO, HEO, LEO, MEO, and constellations. Some of the unique functions provided are automation, conjunction analysis and advanced viewing and analysis tools.

GMV’s client portfolio in the telecommunications sector includes Arabsat, Avanti, Azersat, BRIsat, Catapult, CDTI, DLR, ESA, eumetsat, Eutelsat, GalobalIP, Globalstar, GSA, HellasSat, Hisdesat, Hispasat, Inmarsat, INTA, Intelsat, JPL, JsatSkyperfect, Kari, Measat, NBN.co, Newsat, Nilesat, NOAA, O3B, Optus, PSN, Roscosmos, SpaceNorway, StarOne, Telenor, Telespazio, Thaicom, Türksat, Visiona, Worldspace, Yahsat, among others.

Payload Management Systems

GMV has taken part in supplying payload management solutions in the telecommunications sector since 2006, the year Smartrings was installed as part of the ground segment tool. Today, the SmartPayload product portfolio, designed for intelligent payload management, meets the needs of all types of payloads in the telecommunications sector, from traditional payloads to those defined by software. This enables simple and secure operations that optimize the satellite resources, while minimizing interference.

These tools integrate with the rest of the GMV products to facilitate satellite and mission control, which lead to highly autonomous operations, if required.

GMV offers ready-to-use products, CONOPS and support throughout the mission, although the customization options are unlimited. The SmartPayload family of products incorporates algorithms from various sources:

• From the manufacturer: it integrates algorithms provided by the payload manufacturer.
• Proprietary development: GMV develops proprietary algorithms (bent pipe ring redundancy solver, directable mechanical antennas, etc.).
• Public: GMV implements public algorithms (classification of multiple signals, ITU-R, DVB-S2, etc.)

GMV’s top references are Airbus, Arabsat, Avanti, Eutelsat, Hellasat, Hispasat, Optus, Star One, Turksat, Visiona, and Yahsat.

Ground Station Monitoring and Control

GMV’s product portfolio provides monitoring and control functions (e.g., with the products in the magnet family) for telecommunications mission ground stations.

Our solutions cover everything from single antenna systems to networks of multi-antenna ground stations distributed geographically, integrated into a single, standardized interface that covers local and remote monitoring and control, which enables manual operations and fully automated operations (procedure-based) for quick, reactive reconfiguration of the ground chains.

Our primary references are Eutelsat, Azercosmos, NBN Co, Visiona, Gilat & NWIEE, Pasifik Satelit Nusantara (PSN), EUMETSAT (EPS Second Generation), and Bank Rakyat Indonesia (BRI).

General Information

GMV has developed systems for 80 Earth observation (EO) satellites on missions for the ESA, EUMETSAT, Copernicus, CNES, DLR, NASA, and Hisdesat.

The company plays an important roll on European meteorological missions as the lead contractor for the second-generation ground control segments of the EUMETSAT (EPS SG) polar system and the third generation of Meteosat (MTG). We also develop instrument data processing systems and the quality tool for the MTG instruments. Within the framework of EPS SG, GMV is developing the Ground Processor Prototype for the dispersometer.

It also makes key contributions, such as satellite control centers, flight dynamics, mission planning, end-to-end simulations, and instrument data processing on all ESA Earth Explorer missions (including SMOS, GOCE, Aeolus, Cryosat, Swarm, and EarthCARE).

Copernicus, the world’s largest Earth observation program, also includes a great deal of GMV technology. For this program, GMV developed the satellite control centers and flight dynamics systems for all the Sentinels. It also developed satellite simulators, mission planning, and instrument processing systems for most Sentinels. In addition, it provides the operational service for precise orbit determination (POD) for the entire Copernicus program and has signed a major framework contract with the EU to define the next generation of the Copernicus space segment.

GMV is also one of the leading collaborators on the National Earth Observation Program, where the company's full force came together to ensure the excellent performance of the Paz and Ingenio satellites. It also works with NASA and NOAA on their Landsat, GOES-R, and OCO missions. 

Earth Explorers

GMV’s contribution is key to the ESA Earth Explorer missions.

GMV developed the mission control system for ERS-1, Cryosat 1/2, GOCE, SMOS, SWARM, and EarthCARE.

Within the scope of the payload data processing ground segment, GMV developed the data processors for SMOS (L0), Swarm L1b, L1b NRT & L2, EarthCARE L0, BBR L1b, MSI L1b, and Lidar L1b/L1c.

GMV engineers working at the ESOC facilities in Darmstadt, Germany, provide flight support to all Earth observation missions, as well as operational support.

GMV has provided mission analysis for BIOMASA, FLEX, EarthCARE, CarbonSat, CoReH2O, and PREMIER.

In the area of satellite simulators, GMV has provided the end-to-end performance simulator for FLEX and PREMIER, the instrument simulator for CarbonSat and the operational simulator for EarthCARE.

EUMETSAT

GMV is one of EUMETSAT's primary vendors.

It is the lead contractor for the mission control and operations system (MCO) for the second-generation EUMETSAT (EPS SG) polar system and the mission operations facility (MOF) for the third generation of Meteosat (MTG). These are two major contracts covering the entire ground control segment for the EPS-SG and MTG series satellites.

In the case of EPS-SG, GMV has also developed tools and a dispersometer simulator for processing on the ground.

In the case of MTG, GMV is also one of the primary contributors of the ground segment for payload data, as it is responsible for the development of the instrument quality tool and instrument data processing systems.

GMV experts also provide on-site services to EUMETSAT in the area of ground system operations and engineering.

Copernicus

GMV is one of the primary vendors of Copernicus program infrastructure.

The company developed satellite control centers for all Sentinels. It also integrated the entire flight operations segment of the third Sentinel for EUMETSAT.

In the payload data ground segment, GMV has developed the instrument processing system of the second Sentinel, the ocean and land color control instrument (OLCI) software, and mission planning for the first, third, and sixth Sentinels.

It has also developed and runs the precise orbit determination (POD) operational service for the entire Copernicus program constellation.

In terms of operational simulators, GMV developed simulators for the Sentinel-1 and Sentinel-5P satellites.

GMV is also working under a contract for the European Commission to define the next generation of satellites in the Copernicus space program.

PNOTS: National Earth Observation Program

In Spain, the National Earth Observation Program counted GMV among its primary contributors.

In the space segment, GMV has carried out mission analysis activities and developed the Ingenio operational satellite simulator. The Ingenio ground processor prototype was also developed as part of the space segment contract framework.

In the ground segment, GMV has played a leading role, as it was responsible for the entire ground control segment for the Ingenio and Paz satellites. The company's responsibilities include satellite control centers, flight dynamics, and mission planning. The payload data ground segment is another one in which GMV has played an important role, as it was responsible for mission planning and user services.

DLR/NASA/NOAA

GMV engineers have participated heavily in the development, launch, and routine operations of several missions in the DLR (Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt), in Oberpfaffenhofen, Germany.

Past and present Earth observation missions include CHAMP, GRACE, TerraSAR-X, TanDEM-X, GRACE-FO, and EnMAP.

GMV has also made significant contributions to NASA and NOAA missions. Our top references are the GOES-R/S flight dynamics system, the Landsat mission archive and planning, and the OCO/OCO-2 and GLORY flight dynamics systems, among others.

General Information

GMV has developed systems and technologies for exploration and science satellites for ESA, NASA, and Roscosmos missions, among others.

It participates notably in the space segment as well as in operations and the ground segment. Developments in the space segment include mission analysis, satellite simulators, AOCS/GNC systems and technologies, onboard software, and validation tools. GMV’s offering in the ground segment includes both ground control segments and rover operations and science operations centers. GMV engineers also provide operational on-site support to most European robotic and scientific exploration missions.

Missions to the Moon and Mars

GMV is one of the leading collaborators on the ESA Exomars mission. For Exomars 2016, it developed the onboard software for the GNC entry, descent, and landing system. It is also responsible for the onboard software for Exomars 2021. GMV was also responsible for the design, development, integration, and validation of the rover control system for the ground segment.

GMV is leading ESA technology actions for future missions to Mars, such as the Mars Sample Return mission. It has the most advanced control, navigation, and guidance technology in Europe to conduct complex approach and coupling missions, as well as autonomous operations with rovers.

It also plays an important role in the area of landing precision in future moon missions, such as Luna-Resurs, a collaboration between the ESA and the Russian space agency Roscosmos, and on the Heracles robotic mission.

ESA's Fleet in the Solar System

GMV’s extensive collaboration with the ESA includes multiple activities on the Agency's scientific missions.

GMV developed the Bepi-Colombo mission control systems, SOLO and JUICE, and plays an important role on the operations and flight dynamics team at the ESA’s European Space Operations Center (ESOC), including the great challenge of the Rosetta mission.

GMV staff at the ESA European Space Astronomy Center (ESAC) provide support to scientific operations on all of ESA’s scientific missions.

In the space segment, GMV has developed the navigation camera for JUICE and contributed to the AOCS mission. It also performs important functions in the A/B1 phases on the THESUES and SPICA missions.

ESA's Fleet across the Spectrum

GMV also provides support to ESA missions beyond the solar system.

The company has developed the entire ground control segment and the CHEOPS satellite simulator, the first ESA class S mission.

GMV personnel working at the ESOC and the ESAC play an important role in flight dynamics and operations.

GMV has notably contributed to the Gaia mission's demanding processing requirements. It is also overseeing the development and validation of the onboard software on Euclid and Lisa Pathfinder.

NASA and the Russian Space Agency Roscosmos

In addition to the ESA missions, GMV has also provided suppliers to other agencies, such as NASA and the Russian space agency Roscosmos. Some of the most important projects are NASA’s lunar reconnaissance orbiter (LRO), for which GMV developed the mission planning system.

Within the framework of a bilateral cooperation agreement, GMV designed and developed the entire ground segment for the World Space Observatory-Ultraviolet (WSO-UV) for Roscosmos.

General Information

Within the framework of a contract with the German Aerospace Center (DLR), GMV engineers in Germany have been working for years on the ESA Columbus project. Columbus is the European scientific laboratory and part of the international space station.

The monitoring and control module from the Columbus Control Center (Col-CC), located at the DLR's German Space Operations Center (GSOC) in Oberpfaffenhofen, outside Munich, Germany.

Our contributions cover everything from the design, integration, and validation of the ground system to engineering and operations maintenance and development of software tools.

Ground Segment

Our experience with systems engineering in critical mission environments has been key to the design, implementation, integration, validation, and maintenance of the Columbus ground segment.

GMV is currently working on the engineering and sustained operations of the ground segment's system and subsystems. Our engineers are responsible for daily system maintenance and updates.

The experience and contributions of GMV engineers cover a wide range of subsystems, from data distribution (DaSS), high-speed data streamer, monitoring and control (MCS), and video distribution (ViDS) to the interconnection ground subnetwork (IGS).

GMV is also deeply involved in the design of the future data systems, e.g., the framework of an ESA study on delay-tolerant networking (DTN). As part of this project, we have researched the possible benefits of DTN and developed scenarios and a simulator for DTN networks.

Operations and Planning

At the Columbus Control Center, GMV is the top provider of services for real-time in-flight and ground operations. Our engineers monitor and control the onboard thermal, environmental, computer, and power systems and interact directly with the flight control team at the Johnson Space Center, in Houston, and the Marshall Space Flight Center, in Huntsville, Alabama.

GMV ground control engineers monitor and control the telemetry and control, video, and voice systems to support all Columbus operations. Incoming data from the ISS are sent to the Columbus Control Center, where they are filed and distributed to 10 European user centers. We provide the real-time support needed to keep the ground system functioning and maintained.

Our mission planners coordinate onboard experiments with the European research centers responsible for guaranteeing that all assets have sufficient resources allocated on board the ISS. With regard to the ground segment, we are responsible for providing support to preparation and planning activities, always with strict respect for the applicable requirements and limitations.

GMV develops software applications in many areas, such as operational support, complex system simulations, 3D views, high-speed data distribution, video, databases, and client/server applications, among others.

All this practical knowledge, combined with our experience in operations, allows us to develop a set of operational support tools (OST). This suite provides the framework for processes such as generating information and problem reports, processing changes, programming resources, managing events, documenting communications, and managing the information flow. These web-based modular tools are designed to easily transfer to foreign systems.

To facilitate training on operations, GMV engineers have developed the Columbus Desktop Trainer, a powerful simulator that can be configured to use simulated data generated internally, real-time system data aimed at the Desktop Trainer or a combination of the two. More information on the Columbus Desktop Trainer.

GMV created another training simulator to simulate a Ka band antenna, which provides the Columbus module with additional capabilities for uplink and downlink through the EDRS constellation. This simulator was developed using the ESOC SIMULUS framework, and the Columbus flight control team uses it for training, simulations, and procedure validation.

GMV also developed a 3D viewing tool for the ISS and the Columbus module. orbitSIM complements training and presentations with a high-quality interactive 3D view of spaceship mechanics.

General Information

GMV’s evergrowing experience in avionics and onboard guidance, navigation, and control is clear in space transportation.

GMV has developed key systems for a series of load systems, such as ATV, IXV, and the Space Rider. In launchers, GMV is maturing its avionics technology within the framework of the ESA’s VEGA program and with the cooperation of PLD Space.

GMV is also one of the leading European companies in the development of advanced technology for future space transportation systems, such as our advanced avionics test bench.

Load Vehicles

Since the ATV mission, the role of GMV on load missions is increasingly important. On this mission, GMV took responsibility for a significant part of the operations and flight dynamics from the first flight in 2008 to the last in 2015.

GMV developed the onboard software in ESA’s experimental IXV vehicle, in addition to part of the onboard GNC system navigation and identification of the reentry aerodynamics parameters. On the ESA's Space Rider, GMV has similar responsibilities.

The company has also collaborated with the Sierra Nevada Corporation on the usage analysis of the Dream Chaser for the active elimination of waste.

Launchers

GMV has participated in the development of the flight program software (FPS-A) for VEGA. In collaboration with AVIO, it was also responsible for the development of the algorithms, definition, prototyping, testing, and validation of all aspects of the GNC. It has also provided support in the definition of the new avionics (with a specific role on the systems team), the sensor emulation box, and the separation switch boxes for the VEGA-C, as well as the engine control unit for the VEGA-E.

GMV has developed all the avionics of the Miura-1 vehicle for PLD Space. This includes the power subsystem and the data management subsystem; the guidance, navigation and control (GNC) subsystem; on-board software, payload management, and telemetry, in addition to the termination system. At the end of 2019, after long and thorough qualification campaign including functional and environmental tests, the avionics system passed the qualification phase.

Finally, in October 2023, the Miura-1 was successfully launched from the INTA/CEDEA launch base
 

General Information

Space Safety covers the areas of space weather, space debris (space surveillance and tracking as well as space traffic management), planetary defence, and clean space, and it aims to prevent, mitigate and remediate the impact of the human activities in the space environment, to protect the sustainability of future space operations as well as to protect our planet, its inhabitants and the vital infrastructures that we depend on from the threads coming from space.

In all of these areas, GMV has become one of the leading European and worldwide players. In the Space Surveillance and Tracking (SST) and Space Traffic Management (STM) domains in particular, GMV is a leading provider for the EU SST program as well as for the ESA’s space debris initiatives within the Space Safety Program (S2P) in addition to counting on unsurpassed experience in the commercial and military applications. In planetary defense, GMV is part of the core team that is designing the HERA mission, where it is responsible for all of the GNC system. GMV is also one of the primary players in the area of Active Debris Removal (ADR) and In-Orbit Servicing (IOS), where it supports the most promising concepts and missions under development and develops key technologies required.

Space Surveillance & Tracking, and Space Traffic Management

GMV is a world leading light in the study, monitoring and prevention of space debris. Its work in this field dates back to the late nineties when it began to work with the European Space Agency (ESA) on activities of object cataloging and in-orbit collision avoidance.

In all, nearly 100 GMV engineers are now working on space-debris activities in seven different countries (Spain, France, Germany, Great Britain, Poland, Romania and Portugal), making it Europe’s biggest space-debris team.

Since 2010 the company has worked on over 30 ESA space-safety projects from all these countries, acting as prime contractor in nearly 20 of them, collaborating with more than 40 firms and research institutes from the whole of Europe. By way of example, GMV is priming ESA’s SST Core Software (including object cataloging, planning of sensors and collision service, reentries and fragmentations) and also ESA’s Collision Risk Estimation and Automated Mitigation (CREAM) program.

Under the EU SST umbrella and the national space-surveillance program GMV has primed and led contracts in all the above-mentioned countries, pride of place going to the following responsibilities:

• In Spain GMV is leading the design, development, integration, management and operation of the Spanish Space Surveillance and Operations Center (S3TOC). GMV is also priming several EU SST-related R&D studies for Spain’s Industrial Technology Development Center (CDTI). For example, GMV is developing Focusear, a passive ranging system of active telecommunications satellites in geostationary orbits.

• In France GMV has been supporting CNES’s space debris activities since 2012. In Toulouse GMV is leading development and operation of CNES’ SST Simulation and Analysis Software (BAS3E), among other projects.

• In Germany GMV is leading the maintenance and upgrading of the Mission System for German Space Situational Awareness Centre (GSSAC) and the development of the basic SSA data processing algorithms (underpinning future EU SST’s objects catalog) for German Space Agency (DLR).

• In Romania GMV is leading development, integration and operation of the Romanian space surveillance operations center for the Romanian Space Agency (RoSA) and is also providing the image processing software and the sensor’s planning software for the Romanian telescopes that contribute to the EU SST.

• In Poland GMV has led development and integration of Poland’s space surveillance operations center for the Polish Space Agency (POLSA).

• In Portugal GMV is conducting several R&D studies for Portugal’s Ministry of Defence in the framework of the EU SST system.

• In the United Kingdom GMV has led several SST-related studies in the last years for the UK Space Agency (UKSA), STFC and Dstl as part of the UK’s contribution to the EU SST and its national initiatives in this field.

GMV is a leading firm in the provision of commercial space surveillance services. Since 2017, for example, GMV’s commercial operations center (Focusoc) has been running to provide collision-avoidance services for more than 10 commercial operators from around the world and over 80 satellites.

Drawing on these capabilities, GMV is supporting the Sprint Advanced Concept Training (SACT) collaborative exercises run by USSPACECOM since 2020. To do so GMV works with a whole set of operational COTS software (FocusSST) for processing space surveillance data, including simulation and visualization, catalog maintenance (including data correlation, orbit determination and detection of maneuvers), sensor planning and service provision (comprising collision, reentry and fragmentation).

In the military domain GMV is providing the processing software of the space surveillance center of the German Armed Forces (Weltraumlagezentrum) based on GMV’s FocusSST and is supporting the Spanish MoD for definition and development of Spain’s space surveillance operations center (COVE). GMV is likewise supporting diverse NATO experiments and participating in the Global Sentinel exercises coordinated by USSPACECOM since 2018 in support of the Spanish MoD. Finally, GMV is taking part in the 3 space surveillance projects included in the 2020 call of the European Commission’s EDIDP, namely, SAURON (sensors, under the leadership of ArianeGroup), INTEGRAL (space command and control under the leadership of Leonardo) and ODIN's EYE (space-based early warning, under the leadership of OHB).

Last but not least, in the Space Traffic Management (STM) domain, GMV led a major European consortium for the definition of STM guidelines and best practices for the European Commission (EUSTM project). GMV also forms part of the Space Safety Coalition and supports the Net Zero Space initiative, chairs the STM working group in EUROSPACE, participates in IAF’s Space Traffic Management Technical Committee TC.26 and forms part of Europe’s STM standardization working group in the European Cooperation for Space Standardization (ECSS), contributing to the corresponding ISO working group.

Planetary Defense

GMV has acquired quite possibly one-of-a-kind experience in autonomous GNC systems for all space mission interplanetary trajectories, with special focus on missions related to near-Earth objects (NEO).

GMV is responsible for the onboard guidance, navigation, and control (GNC) system on the HERA asteroid mission. It was also responsible for the GNC system in the definition and design phases of the AIM (Asteroid Impact Mission) precursor. GMV was also in charge of the mission analysis and GNC for Marco Polo, a medium-class mission to return samples of near Earth objects (NEO) that was a candidate for ESA’s 2015-2025 Cosmic Vision program.

GMV is also participating in the design and development of Juventas, a Cubesat 6U developed as a "descendant” of the HERA mother ship for conducting additional research on asteroids.

From the technological standpoint, GMV has the highest TRL level in Europe for GNC for NEO approach, landing, and sampling operations, and it has unique technology for autonomous GNC systems in this field.

From satellite imagery to services

Satellites observe the Earth in a privileged way. While rotating our planet, satellites register images in a consistent and timely manner, providing unbiased data for an array of decision-making topics. Earth Observation satellites have been with us for more than 60 years now. These mature space technologies have blended most effectively with new analytics and big data, in response to the major societal challenges, reflected by United Nations in the achievement of the sustainable development goals.

Satellite data processing and analysis drive GMV’s core business, supported by in-situ data and environmental modelling. GMV’s solutions leverage upon advanced analysis techniques, such as: machine and deep learning, data fusion, cloud computing, and broad statistical analysis. Earth scenarios are complex and varied; geospatial information data bases can be massive, because of the area covered or the period observed. Our multi-disciplinary analysis capacity is possible thanks to a multi-skilled team: we provide effective solutions for climate resilience, forestry, agriculture, security, emergency, water, and humanitarian aid and development among other applied fields upon custom request.

GMV offers support in terms of products, services and applications to international institutions, national governments, local administrations, and commercial enterprises around the world. Our focus is placed on our clients’ objectives, such as being better informed, managing key assets, identifying changes and trends, making forecasts and estimations or building up resilience. In brief, GMV backs up customers’ actions with accurate data, helping them achieve their core missions.

At GMV we are proud of applying our experience and multi-disciplinary background to our geospatial solutions to meet our partners' needs with services that range from environmental risk assessments to the definition of a climate resilience strategy, precision farming or the monitoring of IDP camps.

Agriculture

GMV has developed specific applications for the agricultural sector using Earth observation (EO) data that provide contextual information on agriculture and food security. GMV offers:

• An integrated solution to benefit governments and paying agencies under the EU’s common agricultural policy (CAP):
  • Crop type mapping
  • Agricultural practices
• An integrated solution to improve the main challenge faced by farmers: increasing the quality and performance of their production, while minimizing their environmental impact and reducing the cost of supplies. This solution includes services based on Earth observation, data from on-site weather stations, and farming practices:
  • Climate, biophysical, and biochemical indexes
  • Crop status and photosynthetic activity
  • Soil water content and crop evapotranspiration rates
  • Disease risk alert system and fertilization recommendations
  • Harvest monitoring
  • Yield estimation
  • Tree crop censuses
  • Ad-hoc services are also considered

GMV’s catalogue of agricultural services, Wineo, merges long-time series from NASA, ESA, Copernicus and private missions, weather stations, on-site sensors, narrowband communications, and field-operation registers. Traditional, machine, and deep learning techniques are employed to provide advanced products such as weekly health status reports, daily irrigation needs, near real-time disease risk alarms and treatment recommendations, periodic yield estimations, and harvested area reports

Climate resilience

Climate change is the greatest environmental challenge in recorded history. It has wide-ranging impacts across socioeconomic sectors and eco-biological systems, with the most severe consequences being faced by poor and vulnerable communities in low-income countries.

Climate risk management promotes climate-informed decision-making to alleviate the vulnerability associated with risks posed by climate change. This requires good quality data, which are often lacking in developing countries. Earth observation has great potential to facilitate climate resilient development, as it makes it possible to accurately capture large-scale environmental data over a range of spatial and temporal resolutions. This information, when combined with socioeconomic data, makes it easier to manage climate risks and introduce adaptation solutions into policies to improve the resilience of livelihoods and production systems.

GMV provides EO-based climate products to international development agencies and multilateral organizations to build their climate rationale for investment planning, and for their client states to help them meet their long-term climate resilient development goals. GMV’s catalogue of climate services, Eoclima, supports climate change risk assessment and monitoring (hazard, exposure, and vulnerability), provides information for climate change adaptation solutions, and contributes to climate adaptation-mitigation synergistic approaches in support of the REDD+ program.

Emergency

Climate change and its effects are being felt increasingly more frequently and intensely. Potentially disastrous events are increasing substantially, with more heavy storms and rains, more record-breaking temperatures and fires, all with greater destructive force and many other extremes. The loss of natural resources, food insecurity, direct and indirect health impacts and, as a consequence, migrations, are also on the rise.

EO data can be useful at every stage of the emergency management cycle. GMV has been involved in developing Europe’s EO-based emergency management capabilities since the early stages. In fact, it has been a major contributor, namely through its participation in the Copernicus Emergency Management Service.

GMV’s offer in this sector includes a set of services and geospatial products that planning managers, emergency response teams, and decision-makers can easily and quickly use when they need them the most. These services, all of which help to reduce disaster risks or impacts, span across many areas of emergency management, including exposure mapping (population, infrastructures, assets, etc.), vulnerability mapping (socioeconomic factors), planning and surveillance, risk assessment, damage grading, and recovery monitoring.

• Rapid mapping of disaster events
• Disaster monitoring
• Impact/Exposure assessments
• Disaster risk assessment
• Reference maps
• Flood modeling
• Reconstruction monitoring

Immediately following a disaster, GMV products are supplied to the emergency response within hours or days. The information generated by the service can be used as supplied (e.g. as digital or printed map outputs) or it may be further combined with other data sources (e.g. as digital feature sets in a geographic information system).

Major users can include civil protection and relief authorities, humanitarian aid actors, and others involved in recovery, risk reduction, and preparedness activities.

Forestry

Forest ecosystems are under increasing pressure due to climate change and growing anthropogenic activity. Today more than ever, sustainable forest management is particularly challenging. Reliable data are needed for silvicultural tasks, from afforestation to thinning or clear-cutting. Promoting forests’ circular bio-economy is just as important as managing biodiversity challenges.

Satellite, LiDAR, and climate-based forest information helps to tackle day-to-day challenges by reducing operation costs and increasing performance, enhancing data accessibility and usability, and enabling innovative management solutions. Eoforest is GMV’s catalogue of forestry-related geo-information products. Eoforest supports active management: inventory, protection, restoration, mitigation, and adaptation. The Eoforest team has worked on forestry-related projects over the past 15 years and in more than 20 countries for international clients. Based on the knowledge acquired, Eoforest has been co-designed with forest owners and wood industry stakeholders to provide technical support for sustainable forest operations.

Silvicultural management based on remotely sensed data is an instrument aligned with the European Green Deal and the United Nations’ Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation (REDD+) program. It also supports the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals.

Humanitarian action

Addressing fragile and conflict-affected situations is a strategic priority when it comes to working towards SDG 16 “Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels.”

According to the UN Refugee Agency, the number of people fleeing war, persecution, and conflict exceeded 70 million in 2018, reaching by 2020’s end more than 91.9 million people. The sudden or gradual alterations in the natural environment related to climate change (e.g. sea-level rise, extreme weather events, and water scarcity) produce climate refugees. According to the World Bank (2021), lack of water has been recently linked to 10% of the rise in global migration.

Conflict, insecurity, global warming, weak institutions, and limited access to justice remain great challenges. Conflicts can cause strong environmental effects related to land, air, water, and biota pollution, as well as the degradation of key resources, such as water, rangelands, agricultural land, and forests. Hostilities coupled with climate change can influence an ecosystem’s status: environmental degradation affects biodiversity, influences migration routes, and can even cause the extinction of the most vulnerable species.

EO data can be used to provide development assistance and humanitarian aid during or in the aftermath of conflicts. GMV has been involved in projects with the World Bank and the European Space Agency to support prevention and early actions to address fragility, conflict, and violence.

GMV’s offer in this sector includes a set of services and geospatial products for assessing forced displacement dynamics over time, monitoring refugee camps, determining damage and needs in conflict zones, facilitating early warning and early action on conflicts, analyzing compound risks, and assessing the environmental effects of conflicts. All of these actions are crucial for evidence-based decision-making, coordination of needs and investments, and proposals for longer-term durable solutions.

Security

The global and diverse nature of threats to our security has never been so great and it has long been recognized that geospatial information provides a unique perspective to assist in understanding and responding to the challenges posed.

GMV has been involved in developing Europe’s EO-based operational security capabilities since the early stages. In fact, it has been a major contributor, namely through its participation in the Copernicus Security Service.

GMV’s offering covers several security domains in the framework of intelligence and defense activities, including maritime surveillance (e.g. vessel detection), critical infrastructure mapping, border monitoring, evacuation planning, IDP camp analysis, environmental crime detection, and counterterrorism.

Our security services explore end-to-end techniques, from IMINT expert knowledge to machine learning, using a wide range of satellite data (SAR and optical) from very high to medium spatial resolutions, enabling fast, scale independent, and accurate analysis and reporting for enhanced situational awareness over land or sea, anywhere on Earth.

The developed products consist of maps, geospatial data, reports, and alerts which include a wide range of observable features extracted from satellite images and open-source data to provide the characterization of the targets of interest as well as background geographical information and representation of the analyzed areas.

Water

Water touches almost every aspect of development – climate change, food security, urban development, disaster risk management, environment, gender equality, health, energy, etc. GMV offers EO-based solutions combined with model outputs to help manage inland water and marine challenges, such as water scarcity, water quality, and marine pollution.

Inland water management:

Only 0.5% of the Earth’s water is available fresh water. Water scarcity affects more than 40% of the global population, while over 21.5% of the population currently live in river basins where water use exceeds recharge, which will further exacerbate this situation. GMV offers services for monitoring water availability and its sustainable management to ensure optimal resource management and for monitoring hydrological extremes, from floods to droughts. GMV also uses satellite data to estimate chlorophyll-a concentration, organic matter content, sea surface temperature, sea surface salinity, water turbidity, and other parameters influencing water bodies’ water quality. These services can be used for managing fish farms and aquaculture and monitoring environmental stewardship measures on the associated river catchments. GMV’s catalogue of climate services, Eoclima, supports climate change risk assessment and monitoring, and adaptation solutions to climate change.

Marine and coastal management:

Marine pollution is a devastating problem that calls for new conceptual and technological solutions to help prevent, detect, monitor, and mitigate the consequences of this environmental degradation. Simons is GMV’s EO-based solution to detect marine pollution (plastics and oil spills). The approaches developed take advantage of multispectral optical satellite data, satellite radar data, and machine learning techniques to identify floating debris and spills. These services can be leveraged to identify marine pollution hotspots, understand flow dynamics, and improve decision-making.

General Information

Technology is the essence of the GMV strategy and one of our primary differentiating aspects. In fact, GMV invests in technology development and is one of the most active European companies in ESA and EU technology programs: such as the ESA's TRP, GSTP, EOEP, FLPP, ARTES, and NAVISP and the EU's Horizon 2020 program.

Normally under framework contracts, GMV works hand-in-hand with its clients and develops core technology for ESA , CNES, EUMETSAT and other leading space agencies.

Technology Demo Missions

GMV has participated in many technology demo missions such as those indicated below.

The company is part of the core team that is developing PROBA-3, a unique training flight demonstration. GMV has taken on full responsibility for the training flight system, for which it is developing an onboard guidance, navigation, and control subsystem, as well as the ground flight dynamics system and the training flight monitoring system.

GMV is a key partner of the OPS-SAT nano-Saturn flight laboratory to test new mission control and onboard techniques for which it developed the onboard software.

It is also a key partner in the definition and design of the experimental autonomous approach and coupling mission CubeSats (RACE).

Space Robotics Technologies

GMV is developing the most advanced European autonomous guidance, navigation, and control technology for space robotics. We play central role in the EU's PERASPERA program (Strategic Research Cluster on Space Robotics Technologies), which includes the following elements:

• ESROCOS: development of the operating system for controlling space robots
• ERGO: autonomous or artificial intelligence system
• FACILITATORS: validation testing phase at several European laboratories
• ADE: autonomous decision-making on long voyages
• Responsible for ERGO and ESROCOS in MOSAR, EROS, and PROACTC