Orolia: 70M Euro in atomic clock contracts to keep Galileo satellites on time

Cristina Blanaru Business, Finances

Orolia, the world leader in Resilient Positioning, Navigation and Timing solutions, has been awarded 70 million euros in two contracts to provide atomic clocks for the first 12 satellites of the Galileo Second Generation System (G2S). The first was from the European Space Agency (ESA) and the second from Leonardo. Each of the new G2S satellites, designed to provide unprecedented accuracy worldwide, will contain three Orolia Rubidium Atomic Frequency Standards (RAFS) and two Orolia atomic clock physics packages integrated with Leonardo’s Passive Hydrogen Masers (PHM).

Jean-Yves Courtois, CEO of Orolia

“We are truly honored to be selected by the European Commission, ESA and Leonardo to continue to supply our advanced space atomic clocks for the next generation of Galileo. Our dedication, hard work and innovative design for all the clocks in the current Galileo constellation have contributed to the most accurate GNSS system in service today. We look forward to continuing to support the Galileo program with the most advanced GNSS timing technology available in the world ”

Orolia’s RAFS is a state-of-the-art ultra-stable rubidium atomic clock able to deliver a frequency stability of about 2×10-14 over averaging intervals of 10,000 seconds. The Leonardo PHM, with its excellent frequency stability performance, is the master clock for the Galileo satellite payload. The maser technology embedded on Galileo offers superior stability to all other types of clocks onboard navigation satellites.

Orolia has delivered more than 140 RAFS Flight Models worldwide, with 114 flying on GNSS constellations. In addition, 100 PHM Flight Models have been delivered worldwide, and 56 are flying on the current Galileo constellation.

According to ESA, the G2S satellites will revolutionize the Galileo constellation, joining the 26 first-generation satellites currently in orbit. They will be much larger than the existing Galileo satellites, use electric propulsion for the first time and feature a more powerful navigation antenna. The G2S constellation should achieve a decimeter-scale positioning precision.

In May, the European Commission and ESA already announced the selection of Orolia to provide its Skydel GNSS signal simulation core engine for the G2S radiofrequency constellation simulator. This series of successes demonstrate the excellence of Orolia’s PNT products and its leadership in the most advanced GNSS technologies.

The Galileo program is managed and funded by the European Union. The European Commission, ESA and EUSPA have signed an agreement by which ESA acts as design authority and system development prime on behalf of the Commission and EUSPA as the exploitation and operation manager of Galileo. The views expressed in this Press Release can in no way be taken to reflect the opinion of the European Union and/or ESA. “Galileo” is registered as a trademark in the database of the European Union Intellectual Property Office (n° 002742237).

Orolia is the world leader in Resilient Positioning, Navigation and Timing (R-PNT) solutions that improve the reliability, performance and safety of critical, remote or high-risk operations, even in GNSS-denied environments. Orolia provides virtually fail-safe GNSS and PNT solutions for military and commercial applications worldwide.