The Galileo control centre, Europe's satellite navigation system, is growing in Italy. Telespazio, part of the Leonardo group, and the European Union Agency for the Space Programme (EUSPA) have signed an agreement to expand the Galileo Control Centre (Gcc-I) at the Fucino Space Centre in Abruzzo. The goal is to prepare the facility for the second generation of Galileo satellites.
The current centre is a 6,000 square metre facility with 30 control rooms and 40 equipment rooms. The agreement foresees two new buildings in the area of the existing site, housing "equipment rooms and control rooms compliant with the highest security classification levels," as Telespazio stated in its release. On behalf of the European Commission, EUSPA will contribute to the project to increase the centre's capabilities so it can deliver second-generation Galileo services, which are still in development.
Telespazio will be responsible for the entire project, while ownership of the whole infrastructure will be assigned to Italian authorities. Telespazio CEO Gabriele Pieralli said the expansion "will strengthen the reliability and security of the system, serving hundreds of millions of European citizens and a user community that continues to grow worldwide." He also noted that Galileo's evolution toward its second generation again entrusts Telespazio with developing the Fucino control centre, which together with its German counterpart forms the core of the programme's ground segment.
Image: telespazio.com — https://www.telespazio.com/en/news-and-stories-detail/-/detail/131219-inaugurata-la-nuova-sala-di-controllo-per-la-messa-in-orbita-dei-satelliti-al-centro-spaziale-del-fucino-di-telespazio
The Italian centre does not work alone. It runs in parallel with the control centre in Oberpfaffenhofen, near Munich, operated by the German space agency's company Dlr-GfR. The Fucino centre is responsible for operating the central security facility supporting the Gsmc (Galileo Security Monitoring Centers), carries out Ground Mission Segment (Gms) operations, and monitors the Gddn (Galileo Data Dissemination Network). Both centres are run by Spaceopal, a joint company of Telespazio and Dlr-GfR.
To see why the deal matters, note that Telespazio has built and operated the Fucino centre since 2010; it is one of the two Galileo Control Centres running the system and handles mission control and the global communication network between sites. The project also fits Europe's push for space autonomy. The European Union is building IRIS², a 348-satellite secure communications constellation whose budget has risen to 15.6 billion euros, and the Thales Alenia Space and Aerospacelab platform contracts already exceed 5.4 billion euros. The Fucino upgrade belongs to that picture: the ground infrastructure governs the satellites overhead.
The effects reach anyone who uses Galileo daily, from phone navigation to transport services and institutions. The release stresses that the system serves hundreds of millions of European citizens and a growing user community worldwide. The new buildings must host the control rooms of the next generation, and the agreement sets the division of roles: Telespazio builds, Italy owns, Europe funds through EUSPA.
The next step is building the new structures and rooms at Fucino, while the second generation of Galileo services is still in development.
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