Galileo is heading to the International Space Station on board the cubesat mission BOBCAT-1

UPDATE: The launch is now scheduled for 2 October 2020, 9:16 EDT/ 3 October 3:16 CET.

Horizon 2020 project ENSPACE is literally launching its new GNSS receiver for low cost, secure and flexible space navigation, positioning and time. The Galileo enabled receiver will be integrated into the cubesat mission BOBCAT-1, to be launched to the International Space Station in a Cygnus cargo on top of an ANTARES Launcher from the Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia, USA on 1st October 2020, 9:38PM US East Coast time.

The ENSPACE project, funded under the programme Horizon 2020 and managed by the GSA, has made quantum leaps in the development of a GNSS solution supporting Galileo and aimed at the smallsat market sector, one of the fastest growing markets under the New Space trend. The consortium is led by Qascom together with the University of Padova, GEA Space, Eundorosat, Euroconsult, and Spirent.

The ENSPACE’s product, now commercialised under the model QN400-Space by Qascom, was selected by the University of Ohio for a NASA mission to be launched in space in a cubesat as a technology demonstrator.  The solution, was delivered to the University of Ohio and integrated into the cubesat mission BOBCAT-1. It will be launched to the International Space Station in a Cygnus cargo on top of an ANTARES Launcher from the Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia, USA, on the 1st October at 9:38PM US East Coast time (2nd October, 3:38AM CET). The cubesat will be deployed with the ISS robotic arm in the same orbit.

Once again, Europe’s Horizon 2020 is driving innovation, boosting entrepreneurship and economic growth, delivering products and services that impact markets and technologies. ENSPACE is an excellent reminder of the range of services and markets Galileo can cater to, in this case for vehicles operating in the different layers of the Space Service Volume. 

The result of European and international cooperation, QN400-Space is an advanced multiconstellation (Galileo / GPS) SDR receiver based on System on Chip (SoC) Zynq family, and is the answer to space GNSS applications that require the security and the flexibility of a software solution.

Click on the links to learn more about: the ENSPACE project, the QN400-Space solution, the BOBCAT-1 mission, and the launch planned for 1st October 2020. 

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