In a strategic move to evolve Europe’s global navigation satellite system, GMV and the European Space Agency (ESA) signed a contract in Lisbon, Portugal, on Thursday, January 22, 2026, for the ACHILLES project.
This initiative, formally known as Advanced Technologies Breadboarding for Low-Complexity Sensor Stations, is funded through the Horizon Europe innovation program. The primary objective of the multi-national consortium led by GMV is to design and develop the next generation of Galileo Sensor Stations (GSS), which serve as the backbone for receiving and processing satellite signals to ensure global positioning accuracy.
The ACHILLES project represents a departure from traditional ground infrastructure by prioritizing the development of stations that are more compact, robust, and cost-effective than current iterations. These new GSS units are engineered to maintain high-precision operations even under adverse reception conditions, such as high-interference environments or areas prone to signal reflections.
To achieve these performance metrics, the industrial team—including key partners Fraunhofer IIS of Germany and the Université Côte d’Azur of France—will implement innovative technologies such as smart antennas with spatial diversity, dual polarization, and hybrid beamforming. The architecture will also transition toward distributed models based on cloud computing to enhance scalability and resilience against spoofing or signal falsification attempts.
This modernization effort is a critical component of the broader Galileo Second Generation (G2) evolution. By reducing the complexity and footprint of ground sensors, the program enables the European industry to meet the requirements of emerging positioning, navigation, and timing (PNT) architectures. Specifically, the ACHILLES hardware is designed to be compatible with future Low Earth Orbit (LEO) PNT systems.
This includes the Celeste constellation, a LEO-PNT mission currently under development by GMV and its partners, which aims to supplement the existing Medium Earth Orbit (MEO) Galileo fleet with a layer of satellites orbiting at approximately 500 kilometers to improve signal resilience.
The first satellites for the Celeste constellation are scheduled for launch in the first quarter of 2026, coinciding with the initial prototyping phases of the ACHILLES ground segment. Following the design and breadboarding phases, the new GSS stations will undergo rigorous environmental and systems testing to verify their readiness for integration into the global Galileo ground network.
This contract not only reinforces GMV’s role in the European navigation ecosystem but also supports the European Union’s mandate for technological autonomy by ensuring the ground segment can support both heritage MEO signals and next-generation LEO-based positioning services.