Galileo is testing with Frontex and the Romanian Border Police a signal that detects position falsification.

The European Union Agency for the Space Program told MEPs from the SEDE Committee that the new Galileo signal can confirm whether the location information is authentic or has been falsified through "spoofing". The technology was tested in a naval convoy departing from Constanța and could be extended for Frontex operations.

Galileo is testing a signal that can show whether the position indicated to a user is authentic or has been falsified, said the director of the European Union Agency for the Space Program in the European Parliament's Security and Defense Committee, SEDE. The technology was verified together with Frontex and the Romanian Border Police in a naval exercise launched from Constanța.

In short

The new signal aims to combat "spoofing", the technique by which a receiver is made to believe it is in a different location than the actual position.

The system functions as a digital authenticity marker. The receiver can verify whether the received signal genuinely comes from Galileo and whether the information has not been falsified.

The European space agency tested the technology together with Frontex and the Romanian Border Police, as part of a naval convoy that left the port of Constanța.

During the test, authorities compared a receiver equipped with the new signal to a traditional one. The agency's director said the results were very good.

The agency is discussing with Frontex the expansion of its use. Interferences from the eastern border of the Union affect both Galileo and GPS and can create problems even for civil aviation.

The director of the European Union Agency for the Space Program, Rodrigo da Costa, presented the technology to MEPs from the SEDE Committee during a hearing on the role of space in European security and defense.

He stated that the threat to satellite navigation systems is no longer a theoretical one. The European Union is observing strong radio interferences along its eastern border, which affect both the European Galileo signal and the American GPS system.

These interferences can take the form of jamming, which prevents the reception of the signal, or position falsification, known as "spoofing". In the latter case, the receiver receives manipulated information and can indicate a location different from the actual one.

Da Costa explained that the new Galileo signal was developed to allow verification of the authenticity of the information. He compared it to the security features used on banknotes and coins.

The signal contains a marker that the receiver can verify. If the information has been modified or replaced with a false signal, the device can detect that the data does not genuinely come from Galileo.

"It assures the user that the received signal is a Galileo one and that it has not been falsified," Da Costa told the MEPs.

The agency tested the technology in cooperation with Frontex and the Romanian Border Police. The exercise involved a convoy of vessels that left the port of Constanța and operated in the Black Sea.

The automatic transcription of the hearing reveals unclear the entire route of the convoy, but confirms that the test started in Constanța and compared the behavior of two types of receivers in the same interference environment.

One receiver used the new Galileo authentication signal, while the other operated in the traditional manner. The agency monitored the differences between them and how the protected equipment reacted when the positioning signal was disturbed or falsified.

Da Costa described the results as "excellent" and said that the agency is discussing with Frontex about a wider use of the technology.

The system is already being introduced in other areas. According to the agency's director, the new signal is installed on trucks in Europe, where accurate positioning is necessary for transport, vehicle tracking, and operational security.

Interferences on satellite navigation can affect ships, airplanes, vehicles, and infrastructures that depend on location and timing. In aviation, a false position or an unstable signal can create problems for onboard systems and traffic coordination, even if aircraft use other means of navigation.

The agency's director stated that the protection of Galileo must cover both satellites and ground infrastructure. The system includes control centers, security monitoring centers, and antennas located in various regions of the world.

The agency continuously monitors the security of Galileo and tracks cyberattacks, the integrity of physical infrastructure, and interferences on radio frequencies.

Da Costa also specified that the European Union is technically cooperating with the United States. The teams responsible for Galileo are discussing with specialists from the American Space Forces who operate GPS, as both systems are exposed to similar threats.

This cooperation does not replace the autonomy of the European system. Galileo is built in such a way that the European Union can maintain its own navigation and security services even when it needs to operate independently.

Testing with the Romanian Border Police shows that the technology is ready for operational uses, but the agency did not announce during the SEDE hearing a timeline for mandatory introduction in all Frontex or member state equipment.

https://2eu.brussels/ro/news/galileo-testeaza-cu-frontex-si-politia-de-frontiera-romana-un-semnal-care-detecteaza-falsificarea-pozitiei