Industry

Astri Polska in European Navigation Projects

Andrzej Hładij 14.07.2017 17:12}

AGGA-4 during the test programme. (ESA Contract 4000108786) - Image Credit:. ESA

Astri Polska has received a proposal to implement three new advanced satellite navigation projects. The Warsaw-based company will test the GNSS system and design test environments for receivers and hybrid navigation systems. The projects have been ordered by ESA, and they are to be covered with a total amount of almost PLN 3.2 million.

Astri Polska is going to work on examining the radiation characteristics of the AGGA-4 device which is an ASIC circuitry element (Application Specific Integrated Circuit), acting as a space GNSS receiver. The system is to be resistant to space radiation, also remaining capable to process the following signals: GPS, Galileo, Glonass and Compas-Beidou. ASIC devices may replace larger, general purpose integrated circuits. They are smaller, lighter, more reliable and energy saving.

The tests ordered to be carried out by Astri in the ESA-financed AGGA-4 project will be carried out in conditions where heavy ions and protons would act as the main radiation components. The measurement results will allow the engineers designing the GNSS system components to properly tailor the characteristics of the devices. Beyond the research component, it is also assumed that proper qualification tests would also be carried out, required to commercialize the receiver. AGGA-4 will be installed onboard, among other systems, the MetOp-SG satellite.

This is not the only area of tasks ordered by ESA from Astri. Within the framework of the Polish Industry Incentive Scheme, the company is also engaged in the FLIGhT and TEcHNO projects. FLIGhT (Flexible environment for GNSS Testing) is aimed at designing and creating a scalable software package which would be flexible enough to integrate a variety of instruments with it. Thanks to the aforesaid solutions, it shall remain possible to create a test environment for the GNSS receivers, with a particular emphasis placed on the ones tailored for space applications.

TEcHNO project (Test Environment for Hybrid NavigatiOn) is to become a component of the subject of works on the hybrid LTE supported GNSS navigation. Its purpose is to create software, allowing the user to integrate the hardware suite used to test the new generation devices. The software suite delivered by the Astri Polska-led consortium, besides controlling the lab-hardware, would also make it possible to generate simulation scenarios. Tests and the first implementation of the system ordered by ESA would take place at the ESTEC European Navigation Lab, located in Noordwijk.

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