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Enhanced Navigation in Space

Periodic Reporting for period 2 - ENSPACE (Enhanced Navigation in Space)

Periodo di rendicontazione: 2018-11-01 al 2020-05-31

ENSPACE has fostered the use of GNSS in space exploiting a novel concept of Space receiver with the following applications: navigation in space, timing determination, precise orbit determination and attitude determination. GNSS technology will be adopted by most of future space missions in LEO, MEO, GEO orbits, interplanetary missions and launchers. In parallel, cost/size reduction, flexibility and the need to increase security are key requirements to sustain the evolution of the satellite business towards mega constellations and small satellites. ENSPACE, through the project and the future exploitation activities, is capturing this need providing an innovative software suite for space navigation.

The final ENSPACE goal is the development of an innovative GNSS Space receiver with the following advanced features:
-Configurability for Multi Missions: the GNSS board is designed to have a single solution that can become a standard for all future missions that require enhanced navigation, including high availability, robustness and security.
-Configurability for Multi Applications: the GNSS board is designed and developed in order to support different Enhanced GNSS applications.
-Software Defined Radio (SDR) Technology: this increases the flexibility and in space programmability. Moreover, SDR can reduce the costs, volume, weight and energy consumption.
-Security and Robustness: Galileo authentication and receiver based anti-spoofing techniques is an asset for the future threats in space.
-Low Cost Solution: this can be achieved using low cost COTS that is an emerging trend in space. Indeed, budget constraints, demand for inexpensive small satellites, and other Enhanced Space Navigation issues are forcing space-platform designers to consider using COTS components for space.
The activities have been carried out according to the tasks in the Description of Work. Particularly, the team has worked on:
- Mission Scenario and Enhanced GNSS Applications Requirements.
- Design of enhanced GNSS applications.
- Development and Integration of Enhanced GNSS Applications.
- Verification and Demonstration.
- Exploitation and Communication.
In summary the key achievements of the project are:
-development and validation of the GNSS space software defined radio receiver.
-Implementation of a Space GNSS Application Demonstrator: the project has set up an innovative test platform, composed by high end modules that enables the experimentation of several innovative concepts for space.
-Development and Experimentation of Enhanced GNSS Applications: novel GNSS algorithms have been proposed, implemented and experimented in the ENSPACE demonstrator. This includes two Navigation and Timing solutions (Real Time and Snapshot), a Precise Orbit Determination (POD) based on a single-frequency Extended Navigation Kalman Filter (ENKF) combined with the GRAPHIC algorithm, an Attitude determination based on GNSS Visibility and several Security Checks based on raw observables and navigation data.
-Software Configurability for Multiple Missions Orbits: the GNSS SDR receiver board is designed and developed in order to support multiple future mission orbits including LEO, MEO, GEO, Interplanetary Missions and Launchers.
-Software support to Multiple Processing modes: ENSPACE has implemented and experimented the Space Real Time Processing (SPACE-RTP), the Space Snapshot Processing (SPACE-SNP) and the Ground Snapshot Processing (GROUND-SNP).
-Software Based Radiation Resiliency: the PVT routine was hardened using a temporal triple modular redundancy approach, as a proof of concept of the techniques to mitigate the effects of the space radiation environment.
-Integration with State of Art CubeSat Communication payloads: the ENSPACE receiver has been interfaced with an S-band Transmitter and UHF transceivers to emulate Space to Ground and Ground to Space communication.
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