Galileo’s Ground Segment is at the heart of the system: it keeps satellites on time, pinpoints their position and possible drift, processes data and monitors the reliability of the constellation, ultimately enabling Galileo’s excellent performance. Each station in this extensive network is now set to undergo an upgrade integrating new hardware and software to ensure system sustainability, enhance robustness and reinforce cybersecurity. This operation is critical for the roll-out of the Public Regulated Service (PRS) that will provide highly accurate and robust encrypted signals for authorised governmental users.

ESA, as system development prime and design authority, has led this effort and together with five European companies (Thales Alenia Space, GMV, Telespazio Belgium, Thales SIX and Indra) successfully upgraded three key sites that represent different station typologies: Redu, Belgium; Réunion, French overseas department in the Indian Ocean; and Jan Mayen, Norway.

These initial upgrades served as demonstration prototypes, paving the way for the EU Agency for the Space Programme (EUSPA), the Galileo service provider, to coordinate the upgrade of the 11 remaining sites together with the same industrial partners. Migration activities will continue for most of 2025.

The upgrades presented significant logistical and technical challenges, from coordinating multiple contractors to navigating the logistical hurdles of isolated locations. These operations involved temporarily halting site operations while maintaining Galileo’s performance and ensuring no disruption to end-user services, a key achievement thanks to meticulous planning, synchronisation between entities and exceptional support from the Galileo Control and Security Monitoring Centres.