Airbus has been selected by the European Space Agency (ESA) as the prime contractor to develop EGNOS V3, the next generation of the European Satellite Based Augmentation System (SBAS).

Consisting of three geostationary satellites and a network of around 50 ground stations, EGNOS (European Geostationary Navigation Overlay Service) transmits a signal containing information on the reliability and accuracy of the positioning signals sent out by Global Navigation Satellite Systems such as GPS and Galileo.

Developed by ESA on behalf of the European Commission and the European GNSS Agency (GSA), EGNOS V3 will provide augmented operational Safety of Life services over Europe that improve the accuracy and availability of user positioning services from existing Global Navigation Satellite Systems and provides crucial integrity messages to EGNOS users with alerts within a few seconds in case of system degradation.

EGNOS V3 will ensure full continuity of service for the next decade and will be the first operational SBAS implementing the dual-frequency and multi-constellation world standard, with both GPS and Galileo, replacing EGNOS V2 which has been in operation since 2011.

As Prime contractor, Airbus will be leading a consortium with partners from France, Germany, Spain and Switzerland. Airbus will be responsible for the development, integration, deployment and preparation of EGNOS V3 operations, the overall performance of the system and the Central Processing Facility which is the heart of the real-time navigation algorithms.

In 2023, the single-frequency version will be available to replace the current operational version and, 18 months later, the final version in dual frequency will be delivered.