After a pandemic-induced gap of more than two years, Europe’s leading companies working on positioning, navigation and timing technologies will meet face-to-face at ESA’s technical heart in the Netherlands for the NAVISP Industry Days, devoted to the latest developments in the Agency’s Navigation Innovation and Support Programme.

The two-day NAVISP Industry Days will take place on 16-17 June. For more information, including how to register, click here.

ESA led the development of the Galileo satellite navigation system, which is today the world’s most precise satnav constellation, offering metre-scale accuracy to more than 3 billion users around the globe.

But ultimately satnav systems like Galileo are only a means to the end – this end being the provision of robust, reliable positioning, navigation and timing (PNT) services to users, especially at a time when this provision holds more importance in economic and social terms than ever before. Around 10% of the European economy is already underpinned by PNT, and its significance will only grow with the coming of assisted and automated driving, smart cities and the internet of things.

So ESA devised NAVISP to look beyond Galileo, and devise novel PNT technologies and services and render European companies more competitive in this fast-evolving sector.

Many of the same experts who originally devised Galileo and oversaw its development are now working with leading European companies in the development of new PNT approaches, alternative positioning systems and new products and services.

NAVISP was originally presented during ESA’s 2016 Ministerial Council and subscribed to by 20 ESA Member States including Canada. More than 200 NAVISP projects have been initiated so far, and NAVISP is set for expansion during this year’s Ministerial Council at the end of 2022.

The NAVISP Industry Days will include a presentation of the planned NAVISP Phase 3, as well as many highlights from the previous two NAVISP Phases.

NAVISP is divided into three Elements, and the Industry Days will be organised accordingly. After an introductory morning, the second session will be devoted to ‘NAVISP Element 1: Enabling PNT innovations along the value chain’ – covering clever ways of improving PNT performance.

This will be followed by a session on ‘NAVISP Element 2: Increasing industrial PNT competitiveness’, developing all kinds of new PNT services and products such as high-performance drone positioning systems, smart road sensors and interference monitoring and detection.

The second day will host a session on ‘NAVISP Element 3: Support PNT initiatives in Member States’, including support for national PNT research priorities and testbeds, before concluding with a summary of the event.

To register for the NAVISP Industry Days, click here.