The 21st European Navigation Conference culminated with the international kick-off for this year’s European Satellite Navigation Competition (ESNC). For 2013 this prestigious competition has prizes totalling € 1 million.

With the official international kick-off for the European Satellite Navigation Competition (ESNC) in Vienna on 25th of April, entries are now open for the 2013 GSA Special Topic Prize. Innovative ideas with business potential using European GNSS are once more being sought with a valuable business prize on offer for the best product or service concept.

Historically the main focus of the GSA has been the development of the Galileo and EGNOS satellite systems; but GSA Executive Director Carlo des Dorides sees service delivery as the main key to the success of the agency over the next seven years.

The European Commission has released version 2.0 of the EGNOS Open Service Definition Document (SDD). The revised document reflects recent improvements in EGNOS geographic coverage and other enhancements.

As the mobile industry continues to grow, new opportunities open up for collaboration with the European space industry. Michel Bosco from European Commission, Head of Application Development for the Galileo and EGNOS programs, was present at Mobile World Congress explaining the mobile developers what are the upcoming challenges and opportunities brought by Galileo & EGNOS.

Road User Charging (RUC) is a hot topic in Europe and globally. The clear case for satellite based systems that offer a sustainable, lower cost solution and can facilitate interoperability between national and regional systems was made to the recent 10th Annual RUC Conference in Brussels on 5 and 6 March.

Belgium is making preparations for introducing a Road User Charging (RUC) scheme for heavy vehicles. This scheme could potentially be extended to all vehicles across the country in a few years time. Meanwhile a small case study in the Belgian city of Leuven has shown how a RUC scheme based on satellite technology could help relieve congestion and change driver behaviour.

Since relocating to Prague, the European GNSS Agency (GSA) has worked to engage the business community with the many opportunities offered by the EU’s space programmes. On 27 March the GSA’s HQ hosted a very successful workshop for Czech SMEs and other business organisations and individuals to present the potential of this major growth area.

By combining GNSS and EGNOS augmented positioning with airborne inertial measurements and a global gravity model, also derived from space-based technology, the Galileo for Gravity project is developing an accurate, cost effective gravimetry surveying service. This has tremendous potential for enhancing activities such as mineral prospecting and a wide range of other commercial and academic applications.

Spain is clearly keen on space technology with thousands of visitors passing through the doors of the European Space Expo in Madrid this week. The free exhibition featuring Europe’s Galileo, EGNOS and Copernicus programmes was a big hit with Spanish citizens of all ages!