Abstract
The European Global Navigation Satellite System Galileo is close to declaration of initial services. The current constellation comprises a total of 12 active satellites, four of them belonging to the first generation of In-Orbit Validation satellites, while the other eight are Full Operational Capability (FOC) satellites. Although the first pair of FOC satellites suffered from a launch anomaly resulting in an elliptical orbit, these satellites can be used for scientific applications without relevant limitations. The quality of broadcast orbits and clocks has significantly improved since the beginning of routine transmissions and has reached a signal-in-space range error of 30 cm. Precise orbit products generated by the scientific community achieve an accuracy of about 5 cm if appropriate models for the solar radiation pressure are applied. The latter is also important for an assessment of the clock stability as orbit errors are mapped to the apparent clock. Dual-frequency single point positioning with broadcast orbits and clocks of nine Galileo satellites that have so far been declared healthy already enables an accuracy at a few meters. Galileo-only precise point positioning approaches a precision of 2 cm in static mode using daily solutions.
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Acknowledgments
We’d like to acknowledge the efforts of the MGEX station operators, data, and analysis centers. We also thank the European Space Agency for granting access to the NAPEOS software version 3.3.1. We’d like to thank Jim Ray and a second (Anonymous) reviewer for the useful comments which helped to improve the manuscript.
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Steigenberger, P., Montenbruck, O. Galileo status: orbits, clocks, and positioning. GPS Solut 21, 319–331 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10291-016-0566-5
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10291-016-0566-5