European time lords

Leading players in Europe’s timing community will synchronise the precision time signals underpinning the ambitious Galileo constellation of navigation satellites.

The Fidelity consortium was appointed by the Galileo Joint Undertaking in June and recently successfully passed its critical three-month review milestone.

Managed by Helios Technology, Fidelity includes the National Physical Laboratory, the UK’s measurement institute, and Thales Research Technology.

Each of Fidelity’s eight partners provides specific technical expertise, from industrial mathematics to design and systems engineering.

“We invented the atomic clock fifty years ago and are pleased to remain at the leading edge of Europe’s timing community,” said Dr John Davis, principal research scientist at NPL.

“Accurate time signals will enable Galileo to bring enormous commercial and civilian benefits not just to the UK and Europe, but to users across the globe.”

One nanosecond of time difference on a satellite is the equivalent to about 30cm on the ground, so highly accurate time is essential to the success of Galileo.