Galileo tests encrypted civil positioning as spoofing worries grow

Europe's Galileo navigation system has shown for the first time that it can provide authenticated civil positioning, according to the European Union Agency for the Space Programme. Five satellites took part, each broadcasting encrypted signal components that ground receivers used to work out a position fix.

The demonstration took place on 16 September, part of preparations for an initial service declaration next year. Much of the testing was held at Jammerfest, an open jamming-resilience event at Andoya in Norway that examines how well position, navigation and timing systems hold up under interference.

For two hours, the five satellites — E06, E21, E23, E34 and E36 — broadcast encrypted signals on the 1278.75MHz channel. Those signals are normally sent without encryption, the agency said. The fix produced during the test drew on both navigation data and ranging information, which the agency said strengthens protection for civil positioning.

Civil receivers have had limited ways to check the signals they pick up from navigation satellites. OSNMA, a navigation data verification service introduced last year, addressed part of that gap. The Signal Authentication Service covers ranging measurements, the data used to calculate a position, and the agency said the two services work alongside each other.

A receiver stores digital samples of the encrypted E6-C signal for each position fix. When the matching OSNMA key is released, the receiver uses it to check the recorded signal and calculate a position, with ranging measurements verified by the Signal Authentication Service.

During the demonstration, Galileo receivers identified test spoofing attacks and kept a trusted solution, the agency said. Conventional receivers were deceived and reported false positions.