NovAtel Inc. Awarded Contract for Study

NovAtel Inc. was awarded a $142,000 (CDN) contract by Public Works & Government Services Canada for an Interoperability study on the receiver requirements for Galileo. Galileo is the European Union's state-of-the-art Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS), which is expected to be fully operable by 2008 with up to 30 satellites orbiting the earth. This contract, sponsored in Canada by the Canadian Space Agency (CSA), focuses principally on both GPS and Galileo receiver requirements and system performance. NovAtel will study the requirements for a combined GPS/Galileo receiver. The University of Calgary, also located in Calgary, Canada, will work under a subcontract to NovAtel to analyze the performance of the system using system constellation modeling techniques. “NovAtel has previously undertaken work on Galileo signal verification, user receiver and ground reference receiver requirements,” said Tony Murfin, NovAtel’s Vice President of Business Development. “This latest contract award is another important step forward for Galileo, and NovAtel’s participation in the program. NovAtel is proud to work with the CSA in making important research and development contributions to this new leading-edge global navigation system.” “The continued support of the Canadian Space Agency regarding Galileo is very important in securing Canada’s role in the program and ensuring that its leading academic sector and industry are able to meet the challenge,” said Professors Gérard Lachapelle and Elizabeth Cannon, Department of Geomatics Engineering, who lead the project on behalf of the University of Calgary.