GSSC moves into operations

The new ESA Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) Science Support Centre is based at ESA’s European Space Astronomy Centre, ESAC, near Madrid. Run by ESA’s Galileo Science Office, the GSSC integrates IT and satnav infrastructure to deliver advanced data processing services to the scientific community.

Precisely timed to a few billionths of a second and highly stable, satnav signals can be used as a point of reference for many scientific sectors, including Earth and atmospheric sciences, astronomy, highly precise timing ‘metrology’ as well as the study of relativity and other fundamental physics topics.

“The opening of the new centre is the next step. It is ESA’s concrete answer to the need expressed by the scientific community for a ‘one-stop-shop’ to offer researchers long-term GNSS data, products information, results of scientific experiments, plus services to enhance GNSS scientific research and collaboration.” explains Javier Ventura-Traveset, Head of ESA’s Galileo Science Office.

The Galileo Science Office was set up in 2016 as a joint initiative between ESA’s Science and Navigation Directorates, coordinating scientific opportunities through interaction with the scientific community and the independent GNSS Science Advisory Committee.

More information can be found at ESA news.