ESA's Mobile Navigation Lab Tackles Arctic Interference Testing

Written by Copernical Team Friday, 14 March 2025 11:03

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Paris, France (SPX) Mar 14, 2025

Above the Arctic Circle on Norway's Andoya Island, three ESA radionavigation engineers take a brief respite from their demanding mission, playing shuffleboard as sheep graze under the aurora borealis. Their task is a critical one: evaluating how navigation systems endure interference threats. Over five days, they amassed 100 terabytes of data, essential for fortifying the resilience of satellite

ESA's Mobile Navigation Lab Tackles Arctic Interference Testing
by Erica Marchand
Paris, France (SPX) Mar 14, 2025

Above the Arctic Circle on Norway's Andoya Island, three ESA radionavigation engineers take a brief respite from their demanding mission, playing shuffleboard as sheep graze under the aurora borealis. Their task is a critical one: evaluating how navigation systems endure interference threats. Over five days, they amassed 100 terabytes of data, essential for fortifying the resilience of satellite navigation worldwide.

Satellite navigation systems face persistent threats from interference, including jamming (deliberate signal disruption), spoofing (deceptive transmissions that mislead receivers), and meaconing (the rebroadcast of intercepted signals in misleading ways). These disruptions pose significant security concerns, with daily reports of incidents affecting aviation. Recently, Finnair even suspended flights to Tartu, Estonia, due to severe interference issues.

To combat these threats, global experts convene annually in Bleik, Norway, for Jammertest, the world's largest real-world jamming experiment. ESA Navigation participated for the second consecutive year, alongside government authorities, technology providers, and researchers, to assess and improve the resilience of satellite navigation systems against various interference tactics.

This year's extensive test campaign featured low- and high-power jammers, aviation and UAV-specific scenarios, multiple transmitter antenna configurations, stationary simulators, and even a mobile spoofing unit. The experiments took place across three distinct test zones.

ESA deployed a sophisticated testbed, including a mobile navigation lab outfitted with high-precision, antenna array, and dual-polarization antennas-all sourced from European manufacturers-alongside a fixed testing station.

The wealth of data gathered during Jammertest will now be analyzed at ESA's Navigation Lab (NavLab) at ESTEC. Researchers will use the findings to examine vulnerabilities, develop countermeasures, test commercial solutions, and validate innovative technologies. Internally, the data supports ESA's ongoing development of Galileo services, such as the Galileo Open Service Navigation Message Authentication (OSNMA), and aids multiple research initiatives aimed at strengthening navigation security. It is also available to partners under ESA's Navigation Innovation and Support Programme (NAVISP) for further testing.

Mobile Navigation Labs as a Service

ESA's NavLab offers state-of-the-art testing facilities and consulting services to assist industries, academic institutions, and agencies within ESA Member States in evaluating navigation and telecommunications technologies.

Among its assets are two fully equipped testbed vans designed for GNSS receiver testing across diverse environments, from open landscapes to dense urban settings. These mobile laboratories are outfitted with advanced equipment to capture, process, and store data efficiently.

At Jammertest, ESA's NavLab team facilitated the evaluation of third-party technologies, including ASPIS-an artificial intelligence-driven GNSS spoofing detection system developed by WAY4WARD. Additionally, ESA supported National Instruments in collecting raw data through their high-performance array antenna system.

Organizations interested in leveraging ESA's NavLab testing and consultancy services can submit inquiries via the Consultancy and Testing page.

Jammertest and similar initiatives are vital to strengthening the resilience of satellite navigation, enabling academia, industry, and agencies to gain deeper insights into interference threats and advance protective measures. ESA continues to drive innovation in satellite navigation security through initiatives such as the ongoing evolution of EGNOS and Galileo, experimental missions exploring multilayered navigation approaches, and NAVISP-backed research pushing the boundaries of system resilience.