For this episode, Space Panorama takes viewers inside the Control Center of Europe’s satellite navigation constellation. Galileo’s satellites guide citizens, aircraft and ship fleets, as well as emergency services for civil protection agencies and governments. They also provide the precise time to banks and financial markets.
Inside the Fucino Space Centre, there is another “space centre”, a portal through which pass the signals of a satellite constellation that is strategic for countless civil, financial, and governmental activities. The seventh episode of Space Panorama takes us inside the Galileo Control Center, a true European gem: “We use Galileo every day. It’s a satellite system for navigation, positioning, synchronization and timing,” explains Emiliano Agosta, Project and Technical Director at Spaceopal. “Europe has shown great strength and synergy in creating a system that today is the most accurate in the world more precise than GPS, China’s Beidou, or Russia’s Glonass.”
Thanks to its outstanding performance, Galileo now counts over 4 billion users worldwide.
Citizen Services and Strategic Applications
We use it when searching for the best route to an appointment, a company, or a friend’s house; delivery drivers use it to find our doorsteps; Galileo is also a “flight controller” orbiting at 23,000 kilometers, helping aircraft and ships follow their routes accurately.
Galileo’s precision has enabled the European Space Agency to conduct autonomous driving tests years ahead of time: “It was a car with all the windows blacked out, using only the Galileo navigation message. Thanks to its centimeter-level accuracy, the vehicle was able to perform maneuvers and even park completely safely,” recalled Candido Fracassi of Telespazio, Head of the Galileo Control Center Italy.
The signal of this public constellation, developed by the European Union, enables all Member States to receive critical communications for civil protection, governments, and law enforcement.
In times of crisis or emergency, Galileo operates 24/7, supporting the coordination of rescue and strategic operations, a system that benefits the entire world. A famous example occurred in 2020 during the Vendée Globe solo sailing race, when Kevin Escoffier shipwrecked in the South Atlantic. After activating his emergency beacon, his SOS signal bounced off Galileo’s antennas: “It was like a digital scream in the dark that reached the constellation, and from there, the control centers. It allowed another competitor to locate him precisely and reach him in a reasonable time,” recalls Agosta.
The Exact Time That Powers the Global Economy
The same mechanism that enables satellites to triangulate our position so precisely also serves another crucial, though less visible, function: it provides exact time synchronization, accurate to the billionth of a second. “The timing signal managed by a navigation system is essential, particularly for banking and financial operations,” explains the Spaceopal manager. “In stock market transactions, even a few thousandths of a second can mean differences of millions of dollars.”
For all these reasons, the Fucino Space Centre is a critical node in a network that spans the globe. “During the Covid pandemic, with the help of the army, tents were set up inside the Fucino teleport here at Telespazio,” Fracassi recalled. “The international team slept here in tents to ensure the continuity of this service.”
A New Generation of Galileo is Ready
Spaceopal, a joint venture between Telespazio (part of Leonardo group) and DLR GfR (of the German Space Agency), operates the Galileo service across Europe. From Fucino, it manages the signal coming from 32 Galileo satellites in orbit: “We control a network of antennas distributed around the world, about 40 for message reception and 20 for uplink to the constellation,” Fracassi noted.
Now, preparations are underway for the next generation: “Here at Fucino, we are fully ready to support European institutions, especially EUSPA, the European Union Agency for the Space Programme. The transition to the second generation of Galileo satellites is already in progress,” he adds.
These second-generation Galileo satellites promise another leap forward: even higher precision thanks to upgraded atomic clocks, a more secure signal, inter-satellite links, and electric propulsion.