FAQ
Which Entities and organisations are involved in EGNOS operations?
EGNOS operations are centralised in the ESSP offices. The entities and organisations involved are :
- The European Air Navigation Service providers from France, Germany (DFS), Italy (ENAV), Portugal (NAV-EP), Spain (AENA), Switzerland (Skyguide) and the United Kingdom (NATS)
- The French Space Agency (CNES)
- The Norwegian Mapping Authority (NMA)
Can one use EGNOS for navigating a car?
Yes. As EGNOS enhances the performances of GPS, the navigation in cars is improved. In the near future, the Safety of Life services will open up a whole new set of applications to enhance your safety. Check with your supplier to see if EGNOS is used in your units.
How do GPS and EGNOS compare?
To this day, EGNOS solely works by enhancing GPS. GPS is a constellation of around 24 satellites whilst EGNOS is a satellite based augmentation system improving the GPS performance by broadcasting error corrections to the users via three geostationary satellites. This means that without a GPS signal, EGNOS cannot work. EGNOS improves the accuracy of GPS, as well as providing additional performances to the user such as Integrity.
How much should I pay for EGNOS? What services are available?
Everyone can buy an EGNOS receiver and navigate with EGNOS without paying; this corresponds to the EGNOS Open Service. However, when the user navigates in Safety of Life, safety/liability critical applications, then he/she is required to enter a contractual relationship with the EGNOS Service Provider to ensure that liability issues are covered in the case of an incident or accident. This later is defined as the EGNOS Safety of Life Service.
What is the EGNOS Open Service and when will it be available?
The main objective of the EGNOS Open Service is to improve the achievable positioning accuracy thanks to the correction of several error sources affecting the GPS signals
The Open Service is available from October 2009
What is the EGNOS SoL service and when will it be available?
The main objective of the EGNOS Safety of Life (SoL) service is to support Civil Aviation applications up to LPV (Localizer Performance with Vertical guidance) operations. However, the EGNOS SoL service will be usable in a wide range of other application domains (e.g. Maritime, Railways, Road…) but, at this stage, a detailed performance characterisation has only been conducted against the requirements expressed by civil aviation.
The SoL Service is to be declared available in 2010
What is the relationship between the European Commission and ESSP?
The EC is the owner of the EGNOS system and the ESSP customer.
Therefore, the ESSP provides the navigation service based in EGNOS by the EC specified contractual performances
What type of receiver do I need to benefit from EGNOS?
To receive the EGNOS signals, an EGNOS compatible receiver ( also called SBAS receiver or WAAS receiver) is required. It is like a GPS receiver but with special software enabling the receiver to log onto the EGNOS satellites and apply the EGNOS corrections to the GPS signal.
When did EGNOS start and how long will it last?
The first steps of EGNOS occurred in the mid-1990s. The programme has been in its development phase until the initial operations in July 2005. As from 2010, the system will be qualified and will enable the use of Safety of Life services. The duration of the EGNOS Service Provision is foreseen for 20 years, extendable.
Where can I find information on EGNOS performances?
There is a link to the EGNOS User Support website at ESSP Home.
Will EGNOS be discontinued when Galileo enters into operation?
EGNOS service is different from, and complementary to, Galileo only service. The basic objectives of these systems are different:
* EGNOS is an augmentation system to the GPS service (not to Galileo), that improves the GPS signal performance in terms of accuracy, integrity and service guarantee. It depends on the GPS service and it is worthless without it.
* Galileo is a GPS-like system, it is the GPS European counterpart. Galileo is a basic Satellite Navigation (GNSS) system that does not depend on the GPS system and is complementary to it.