Speaker
Description
Nowadays, due to the increasing amount of satellites of different types to be orbited and the high cost of the launching missions, the manufacturers are demanding lower cost units that could operate, with similar performances and reliability that the traditional space hard-rad units. NAVIGA is an electronic sensing/processing unit that responds to these needs and will provide a GNSS-INS hybrid navigation solution to the GNC subsystem of the VEGA-C launcher and the Space Rider System. Besides, most launcher manufacturers are evolving their systems, for example, to be able to recover the first stages, to re-use their upper stages to provide in-orbit servicing, and to include additional kick-stages to reach higher orbits (e.g. GEO, Escape, Moon). Through its modular configuration, NAVIGA can be adapted to the needs of these transportation systems, providing a common physical unit which can operate and meet the requirements for all of them.
The NAVIGA development started in 2017, driven by the risk of obsolescence of the former VEGA navigation unit, its high recurring cost, and the potential orbital injection performance increase that could be achieved with a hybrid GNSS-INS system.
The NAVIGA unit is currently under development, close to concluding the Phase C, with an EM available for testing the unit functionality. Since the beginning, the recurrent cost (RC) and the modularity have been one of the main requirements of the NAVIGA unit. The design of an unit capable to achieve the same performances than similar space navigation units with a reduced recurrent cost has been possible by combining the knowledge and experience in space navigation solutions together with the know-how in developing high-precision harsh-environment aviation products. Through its modularity and growth capabilities, NAVIGA can be configured to different missions by replacing the quality of the components, interfacing to external sensors (e.g. STR, radar altimeter),and providing different navigation solutions (GNSS, Inertial and Hybrid). Future NAVIGA evolution will focus in expanding its market, by adding new features compatible with its modularity, without changing its physical characteristics and envelope. With these new features, NAVIGA plans to address several types of missions and applications to consolidate its position as a reference navigation unit for space transportation systems.
NAVIGA is a full European product that ensures the non-dependability from ITAR restriction nor from third party rights and obligations. NAVIGA is presented as a fully European navigation unit that responds to demanding performance requirements and recurrent cost for the vehicle composing the VEGA Space Transportation System (VSTS), with a flexible architecture that can be easily adapted to other environments and space transportation missions.
