Introduction

The importance and acceptance of existing and emerging Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS), such as Galileo, has been steadily increasing over the last years. After more than 10 years of GPS in fully deployed mode - there are, today, a large number of related applications which are based upon its services. GLONASS which has been developed in parallel to GPS, is, today, still an incomplete constellation, but will be expanded to full capability around 2010. Galileo is on track to be installed and operational by 2013, while GPS and GLONASS will be modernized to provide new signals and services. Finally, Augmentation Systems such as WAAS, EGNOS, MSAS, GAGAN, and the Chinese GNSS 'Compass' make up the compliment of world wide Global Navigation Satellite Systems.

With the increase and complexity of existing GNSS services it is most likely that a whole new range of software tools and applications will be developed, that will affect the lives of most people.

The current operating Satellite Navigation Systems (e.g. GPS, GLONASS) provide performance information to expert users in a dedicated form. The objective of GalTeC, the Galileo Technology Centre, is to provide a comprehensive and system independent tool for system performance monitoring, analysis, prediction and service dimensioning, for all systems and not only for Galileo. GalTeC might be of interest to users, in that it concentrates on the need for easy to read information of all available GNSS parameters that include status and performance in user friendly formats.

The GalTeC project commenced in December 2005 and will be concluded in December 2008.

The GalTeC Technology Centre has started in Version 1 which enabled GPS and EGNOS performance monitoring and analysis. The GalTeC version 2 is available since November 2008 and expands the monitoring, analysis, prediction and simulation functionality for the Galileo (Giove) and GLONASS systems.