NovAtel Establishes Galileo Monitoring Sites in Canada

NovAtel Inc. (Canada) has been awarded a shared contribution contract valued at CDN$667,861 by the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) to establish sites in Canada to monitor the Galileo GIOVE test satellites.

The work includes a parallel cooperative effort to integrate the NovAtel Galileo Test Receiver (GTR), developed by NovAtel for the CSA, into the GIOVE-A Galileo Experimental Sensor Station (GESS), to upgrade the GTR capabilities and to field these GESS stations in Canada.

The GIOVE ground network consists of 13 GESS systems, located around the world. NovAtel's GTRs will be installed at three network sites - two new ones in Canada at the Communication Research Centre in Ottawa and at NovAtel in Calgary, along with one existing site at the GIOVE control centre in Noordwijk, Holland.

The first GIOVE-A test satellite has now been in orbit for over two years and a second GIOVE test satellite (GIOVE-B) is scheduled for launch in March 2008.