A small step for man, a big step for the EU
source: European Space Agency
If you think about the space programme, exploration of the Solar System, space tourism, and space-earth research, the first things to come to your mind would probably be NASA, SpaceX, CSA, CNSA, and other big American, Russian, or Chinese agencies. But what about the European Union? This article will help you understand how the EU is involved in space research, what are its two most important projects and how can you benefit from them.
The EU has one agency dedicated to space, the European Union Agency for the Space Programme (EUSPA). It was launched in 2021 to replace the previous European Global Navigation Satellite Systems Agency (GNSS). Its core mission is to implement the European Space Programme that frames EU space policy in the field of earth observation, satellite navigation, connectivity, research, and investment in space. This programme is implemented in cooperation with the EU Member States, EUSPA, the European Space Agency (ESA), and the European operational satellite agency for monitoring weather, climate and the environment from space (EUMETETSAT), and many other stakeholders. The role of the EUSPA is to:
- Provide long-term, high technology, safe and secure positioning and navigation for Galileo and EGNOS.
- Promote and develop the market of data processing received by satellites
- Provide tools to secure the Member States against disasters.
- Have European autonomy and favour the competitiveness of the European industries.
- Foster the development of a wider European space ecosystem.
Because the agency is relatively young, many people interested in space do not know about it. In contrast, the European Space Agency (ESA) is much more known by the public. Although many believe that it belongs to the European Union structures, ESA is an entirely independent organization. It maintains framework agreements between itself and the EU. Furthermore, not all EU Member States are members of the ESA, and conversely, not all ESA members are Members States of the EU. ESA also works with other national space agencies to serve all humanity by advancing science, participating in the international space station and collaborating with other agencies on solar system exploration.
“We are ESA. We make space work for everyone. We build and launch rockets and satellites, train astronauts, watch over the earth, explore space, and try to answer the big science questions about the Universe”, they say about themselves.
How do these two agencies implement their objectives?
ESA and EUSPA work together on different projects. This article is going to take a closer look at two of them: Galileo and Copernicus.
Galileo
Navigating the world is rather easy for us. We just have to open our smartphone, laptop, or car and we know our exact position and how to get wherever we want to go. Satellite positioning is a key tool in our daily life. 7% of the EU economy depends on the availability of a global positioning system. This includes transport, energy, telecommunication, and logistics. You may not even know it, but originally, we depended on the Global Positioning System "GPS" owned by Americans. Then, a few years later a Russian system was introduced “GLONASS”. Satellite positioning has become a service often taken for granted but imagine what could happen if Americans or Russians decided to switch off the Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) signals. Aircraft, cars, trucks, boats, and millions of people would be lost. Furthermore, as the use of satellite positioning systems continues to expand the risk of failure is even more serious, and the need for precision is even greater. For all these reasons, the European Commission has built Galileo. An independent global satellite navigation system for Europe providing accurate and reliable positioning. Galileo started operating in December 2016 and is today’s safest satellite navigation system. It can provide 4 services:
- Better positioning and navigation: Galileo is autonomous but also integrable with the existing satellite navigation systems: GPS and GLONASS, meaning that there are more satellites and thus more correctness for the end-users.
- Unique timing precision: Galileo provides an excellent 30 nanosecond timing accuracy. It helps in synchronising systems.
- Faster response to emergencies: Galileo’s Search and Rescue service detects the locations of the beacons more precisely; it helps the rescuers to go faster and act everywhere in the sea as in the mountains.
- Economic growth: Galileo enables the creation of a range of new applications and services that will benefit from Galileo’s services free of charge and available for businesses., authorities and citizens.
Technical terms: how does it work?
Galileo is a constellation of 24 satellites distributed in 3 orbits which rotate at 23’222 km above the earth. Every place on earth is constantly overflown by 4 satellites at the same time. This is the condition for geolocation.
The first step to knowing your position on earth thanks to satellites is to find out the distance between your device and the satellite. Let us take the example of Alex, a hiker who wishes to locate himself with his telephone to continue his walk. To do this, the satellite transmits the time at which it sends a signal to Alex's phone. Alex's phone notes the time at which the signal was sent and the time at which it received the message. It then calculates the difference.
Next, it uses the formula we all know: Distance = Time x Speed
Given that the Time is the difference between the time when Alex’s phone received the signal and the time when the satellite sent it, and the Speed is the speed of light, we can calculate the distance between the phone and the satellite.
Now that we have the distance, this imaginary line will become the radius of a circle formed around the satellite, as it would be possible that Alex is on each point of this circle.
Finally, to find out where exactly the phone is we use the triangulation technique. That is, we do the same thing with the other two satellites. The Global Satellite System has to catch the signal of 3 satellites to determine the geographical coordinates. The point where the three circles intersect is where Alex is.
In order not to make a mistake in these calculations, a fourth satellite is necessary to synchronize all the clocks. Satellites are equipped with a very powerful atomic clock, but Alex’s phone is not. Thanks to this fourth satellite, all the clocks are at the same time so that the distance can be calculated more accurately. An error of 3 billionths of a second in the measurement of time is an error of 1m in the localization. A distance that can have disastrous consequences.
Copernicus
Source: ESA
Copernicus is the second most popular project of the European Commission. Living in a world that is constantly changing, where our environment is deteriorating and our population is increasing, it is necessary to know how to adapt to these changes. Copernicus is the European Union’s earth observation programme, looking at the state and health of our planet and environment. Copernicus programmes collect, store, and analyse data to provide adequate products. Data are based on a constellation of six families of sentinels (Copernicus satellites) and contributing missions. Each sentinel has a specific mission:
- Sentinel 1: Monitoring emergency and response
- Sentinel 2: Monitoring of the Land
- Sentinel 3 and 6: Monitoring of the ocean and water
- Sentinel 4 and 5: Monitoring of the atmosphere.
Sentinels 1-2-3 and 6 are satellites and sentinels 4 and 5 are instruments onboard EUMETSAT. All the data collected by them are free of charge to maximise use. The data can be used to create products such as topographic maps or statistics that can next be used by researchers, Scientifics, policymakers, entrepreneurs, and regular citizens. An independent study indicates that by 2030, nearly 48,000 jobs could be created thanks to Copernicus. Indeed, the information provided by the programme can be used for a wide range of applications. The main users are policymakers and public authorities to propose environmental legislation to prevent, protect and adapt to severe ecological crises. The only challenge that the programme is facing is the lack of data processing by European companies. As this system is free and open to all, Americans are the ones who benefit the most from it, which was not the purpose of the Commission's investments. Fortunately, the Commission encourages European companies, to facilitate and standardise access to Copernicus data by implementing Data and Information Access Services (DIAS).
To conclude the European Union invested a lot in these two projects, 175 billion for the global GNSS market and 2.8 billion for Copernicus. The EU acts in many fields and helps you much more than you think. Thanks to the Galileo programme, you are able to locate yourself accurately, anywhere in the world. And thanks to Copernicus, you can access precious data and images of our planet that is deteriorating.
