The European Union has opened its Egnos navigation augmentation system for public use. Egnos enhances the accuracy of existing GPS navigation systems within Western Europe and is designed as a forerunner to Europe's Galileo navigation satellite system.
Egnos stands for European Global Navigation Overlay System. The signals for the service are transmitted via three geosynchronous satellites, which are not dedicated exclusively to Egnos. According to a spokesperson of the European Space Agency (ESA), two of the satellites used for Egnos belong to the Inmarsat communication system, while the third satellites is the Artemis communication satellite jointly operated by Japan and the EU.
Egnos signals can be received and processed by GPS receivers equipped with suitable software. In combination with Egnos signals, the accuracy of GPS navigation can be improved significantly. According to ESA, users can navigate with an accuracy of around 2 metres, versus a typical accuracy of 10 metres with GPS alone. This improved accuracy could trigger a wealth of novel navigation applications is areas as diverse as aviation, agriculture, and traffic management.
Egnos signals currently cover Western Europe, but it would be feasible to include Eastern Europe and North Africa as well, according to the ESA spokesperson. The signals are compatible with a similar system called WAAS, which is used in North America.
The system is operated by a consortium comprising ESA, the EU, and the European air traffic control organization Eurocontrol. Operation is funded entirely by the EU.
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