The different types of interference can be combined into more complex attacks.

“As designer of the EU satellite navigation systems, we are responsible of including technical capabilities in EGNOS and Galileo to ensure robustness against jamming and spoofing, complementing receiver resilience” explains ESA Head of Galileo, Miguel Manteiga Bautista.

“For example, Galileo First Generation services like the Public Regulated Service focus on these features. In addition, there are progressive improvements through features like multi-frequency, wider bandwidth and authentication of the navigation message. Galileo Second Generation will represent a major evolution in terms of capabilities and flexibility to tackle challenges of the future.”

The next generation of EGNOS, designed to augment both GPS and Galileo, will also enhance resilience to interference and improve the reliability of satellite navigation.

Besides system development, ESA collaborates with industry to improve how receivers respond to interference, and to design and develop alternative systems that can operate when GNSS signals are unavailable.

And all these new technologies need rigorous testing. “For complex antennas and receivers, laboratory testing is necessary, but needs to be completed with field testing,” explains ESA’s EGNOS Head of System Engineering Xavier Derambure. In the real world, interference is unpredictable and vulnerabilities surface when you least expect them. “It is therefore very important to verify the robustness of GNSS receivers under real test conditions.”

Enter Jammertest.