Signal performance analysis of the latest quartet of Galileo satellites during the first operational year

On 12 February 2020, the latest four Galileo satellites had completed one full year of space operational service. The satellites were launched on 25 July 2018. The quartet increased the operational capacity of the Galileo constellation to 22 satellites. This study reports on three signal-in-space (SiS) performance indicators - status, availability, and ranging accuracy - from 11 February 2019 to 12 February 2020. In addition, the study looks also at how the on-board satellite clocks have performed. The data analysis shows 100% data validity and signal health status for three our of the four satellites, whereas NAPA (No Accuracy Prediction Available) events accounted for about 2% of the time. In addition, SiS availability was higher than 95% in the first operational year. Furthermore, the 95th percentile of the global average of the instantaneous signal in space error is found to vary between 0.17 to 0.33 m on monthly basis. Lastly, the precise satellite clock biases show high short-term performance with 0.1 ps/s (10
⁻¹³
s/s) standard deviations during the first operational year. The numerical results indicate a robust performance and high reliability for the youngest Galileo satellites in the constellation. They increase the number of operational satellites in the constellation and thus contribute to the Galileo’s increased popularity in the satellite-based positioning and navigation user community.