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Satellite navigation technology is an increasingly common component of innovative applications in different sectors. There are already around 2.2 billion devices with GNSS capability used globally and it is expected that by 2022 the number will grow to 7 billion, almost one GNSS enabled device for every person on the planet1.

The latest stop for the European Space Expo was Munich. The Bavarian region’s administrative centre is often described as a capital of the European aerospace industry. And Munich’s citizens and students certainly showed great enthusiasm for discovering EU space technology with thousands of visitors passing through the doors of the Expo last week (5-10 November 2013). The free exhibition coincided with a major meeting on space technology and business: the European Space Solutions conference.

The Galileo 2.0 debate at the European Parliament in Brussels on October 15 outlined the huge opportunity that the Galileo initiative can bring to European industry. Described as a veritable “gold mine” by one speaker, European companies are getting ready to deliver the innovative products and services that Galileo and EGNOS can enable. And the European GNSS Agency (GSA) is ready to help: from funding application research to support in the marketplace.

A concept to monitor field sports in real-time has won this year’s GSA Special Topic Prize in the European Satellite Navigation Competition (ESNC). Project JOHAN will enable assessment of players’ performances and the development of new tactics based on players’ capabilities. The idea employs tiny wearable GNSS receivers and uses EGNOS to ensure accuracy and reliability. The project received the prize at the Galileo Masters / ESNC 2013 awards ceremony that took place in Munich on 5 November.

The INTERGEO conference and trade fair took place in Essen from 7 – 10 October. This leading event for geodesy, geoinformation and land management demonstrated the vibrancy and importance of the sector in which satellite-based positioning technologies, such as EGNOS or Galileo, plays a key enabling role.

Munich will be the place to be for the European space community in early November. The Bavarian capital will host the European Space Solutions conference from 5 to 7 November: an event that includes the Awards Ceremony for the European Satellite Navigation Competition 2013. The city will also be visited by the European Space Expo at the same time.

This is the first opportunity to be fully engaged in the future Early Services in assessing the readiness of chipsets for Galileo.

Yesterday a public demonstration of how the four satellites of the EU’s satellite navigation system Galileo can independently and highly accurately determine a position on the Earth’s surface took place in the Galileo Control Centre in Fucino, Italy.

The European Space Expo (ESE) has been continuing its highly successful tour of European cities this summer. This spectacular exhibition’s latest landing was in Rome between 30 August and 6 September on the Piazza del Popolo in the heart of the ‘Eternal City’. And the Romans have been flocking to the ESE in record number with over 50 000 visitors entertained and informed during the week.

The International Conference on Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) Technologies and Applications for the Development of Sub-Saharan African Countries took place in May 2013. The conference was organized in the frame of the FP7 project: “Disseminating Knowledge on EGNOS and Galileo in Africa”, Awareness in Africa (AiA)1.