Hosted by
The United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs
Co-organized and co-sponsored by
The International Committee on Global Navigation Satellite Systems
Available Information
Report: A/AC.105/1290
Global navigation satellite system (GNSS) is a general term describing any satellite constellation that provides positioning, navigation and timing services on a global and regional basis and whose data are used for a broad range of applications. Current GNSS include the following global and regional constellations: the Global Positioning System (GPS) of the United States of America, the Global Navigation Satellite System (GLONASS) of the Russian Federation, the BeiDou Navigation Satellite System (BDS) of China, the European satellite navigation system, Galileo, of the European Union, the Navigation with Indian Constellation (NavIC) system of India and the Quasi-Zenith Satellite System (QZSS) of Japan. The performance of GNSS can be improved through satellite-based augmentation systems to provide greater accuracy, integrity and availability for professional use and applications in critical sectors involving safety of life, for example, the aviation sector, which requires high-performance integrity verification.
The International Committee on Global Navigation Satellite Systems (ICG) is an important platform for communication and cooperation in the field of GNSS. The United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs, in its capacity as the executive secretariat of ICG, supports progress in achieving compatibility and interoperability between all satellite navigation systems. As new systems emerge, signal compatibility and interoperability among GNSS systems and transparency in the provision of open civil services are key factors for ensuring that civil users around the world receive the maximum benefit from GNSS and its applications.
The Office for Outer Space Affairs and ICG work together to raise awareness of the important role of GNSS in our societies and to promote international collaboration in this field. To focus on GNSS technology and its applications, the United Nations International Meeting on the applications of GNSS will be held at the Vienna International Centre, Vienna from 5 to 9 December 2022. This meeting will be an opportunity to build upon the results of the regional workshops and training courses contributing to defining a plan of action and the definition of functional partnerships in the long- term while also strengthening existing strategies at the regional levels. It will also be an opportunity to build upon a number of on-going initiatives such as the International Space Weather Initiative (ISWI), multi-GNSS demonstration project, the realization of the regional reference frames and systems, the activities of the United Nations-affiliated Regional Centres for space science and technology education also acting as the ICG Information Centres, and also discuss proposals to be forwarded to the ICG.
A seminar on GNSS spectrum protection and interference detection and mitigation will be held during the meeting. This seminar will introduce spectrum management and the mitigation of radio frequency interference, collectively referred to here as spectrum protection, for radionavigation satellite services (RNSS). The seminar will be conducted in coordination with the ICG Working Group on Compatibility and Interoperability and in cooperation with the International Telecommunication Union (ITU). The topics of the seminar will be built from the spectrum experience gained from the development, operation, and use of RNSS. The aspects of RNSS spectrum protection to be addressed include regulatory, technical, operational, and policy.
The discussions at the meeting will also be linked to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and to its targets set out for Sustainable Development Goals, such as, SDG 3 - Good health and wellbeing (GNSS positioning enables individual patients, staff or equipment to be monitored, and response teams directed more efficiently); SDG 7 - Affordable and clean energy (GNSS reflectometry techniques can produce scatterometry models to assist in the optimum positioning of off-shore wind farms); SDG 9 - Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure (GNSS signals can be used for navigation and positioning of in-orbit space operations particularly from low-Earth orbit to cis-Lunar); and SDG 11 - Sustainable Cities and Communities (GNSS is widely used for urban planning in order to pinpoint structures and reference points for cadastral and urban planning purposes).
The United Nations International Meeting on the Applications of GNSS will be held in Vienna, Austria from 5 to 9 December 2022 at the Vienna International Centre.
The meeting will contribute to international cooperation by providing opportunity to exchange updated information on the use of GNSS technology and its applications.
The specific objectives of this meeting and the expected outcomes are:
The meeting programme will include plenary sessions and sufficient time for discussions among participants to identify the priority areas where pilot projects should be launched and examine possible partnerships that could be established. As a preliminary suggestion the following sessions will be organised: