NAVSAT: A Global Satellite Based Navigation System

The NAVSAT concept, developed by the European Space Agency, in close cooperation with the industries and user organizations has been conceived to fulfill the civilian user requirements for a better navigation capability and mobile communication needs in the future. In selecting the NAVSAT architecture, special care has been devoted to different satellite constellation alternatives in order to identify the most promising solution in terms of navigation performance and system cost. The paper describes the present NAVSAT baseline and status. This baseline while offering precise navigation performance comparable or better than GPS, cuts significantly the overall cost of a satellite navigation system. The particular constellation selected is also easing the set up of the integrated navigation-communications-search and rescue service.