“The testing involved three centres across Europe: the GSMC in Madrid, the Galileo Control Centre in Oberpfaffenhofen, and ESTEC hosting an actual Galileo satellite plus FOC PRS user receivers,” adds Edward Breeuwer, in charge of Galileo system qualification at ESA.

The FOC PRS signal was generated at the GSMC, sent to the German control centre, then uplinked to the Galileo satellite at ESTEC – where the satellites are tested for space in advance of launch. The Galileo satellite then broadcast the FOC PRS signal in turn, to be picked by a pair of receivers also on site, one developed by Antwerp Space under ESA contract and the other developed by Leonardo as part of a national development undertaken by Italy’s Competent PRS Authority, charged with overseeing the country’s PRS use.