How Galileo performed its authenticated positioning fix
News from the European Space Agency (ESA)
In a first for any satellite navigation system, Galileo has achieved a positioning fix based on open-service navigation signals carrying authenticated data. Intended as a way to combat malicious spoofing of satnav signals, this authentication testing began at ESA’s Navigation Laboratory the same site where the very first Galileo positioning fix took place back in 2013.
These historic first authenticated signal position, velocity and timing fixes were made using a total of eight Galileo satellites for around two hours on Nov. 18. The tests represent a first proof of concept for an eventual operational service offering positioning with authenticated data to users.
In a first for any satellite navigation system, Galileo has achieved the first position fix based on navigation signals carrying authenticated data, according to the European Space Agency.
Galileo’s Open Service Navigation Message Authentication (OSNMA) is intended as a way to combat malicious spoofing of satnav signals.
OSNMA receivers successfully calculated an OSNMA-protected position fix after Galileo satellites started transmitting authentication data at 15:28 UTC on Nov. 18, 2020. The first tests used eight Galileo satellites for around two hours on Nov. 18. Tests have continued ever since, for intermittent periods, and will continue over the next months ahead of a public observation phase.