Skip to main content

Ertico reaches for stars with ESA

Agreement with European Space Agency will look at innovative tech for positioning
By Adam Hill September 2, 2022 Read time: 2 mins
Both organisations can develop use cases to demonstrate 'the value of connectivity and geo-positioning through satellite communication' (© Scyther5 | Dreamstime.com)

Ertico – ITS Europe has signed a Memorandum of Intent (MoI) with the European Space Agency (ESA) to explore the use of innovative tech in mobility.

The organisations say the collaboration "will explore space technology and services to improve the safety and reliability of assisted and automated vehicles on European roads and promote innovation in the sector".

Joost Vantomme, Ertico CEO, said the agreement was "another example of how we broaden and build bridges in the entire ecosystem".

"Both our organisations have the potential to enable use cases that truly demonstrate the value of connectivity and geo-positioning through satellite communication,” he added.

The partners will exchange knowledge and expertise to advance the future of automated and sustainable mobility and improve the reliability of data.

Javier Benedicto, ESA’s director of navigation, says: “Ertico’s comprehensive roadmap defines a future where vehicles communicate with each other, the roads they drive on and other infrastructure – but also highlights the fundamental need for ubiquitous, precise, and reliable positioning, navigation and timing [PNT] information."

He says the potential for synergy with ESA’s Navigation Innovation and Support Programme (Navisp) "is evident and enormous".

Navisp looks at new ways to provide reliable PNT information, which is fundamental to developing automated vehicles, as well as future traffic management.

Related Content

  • All change: new CEO for Ertico
    October 15, 2021
    Jacob Bangsgaard replaced by Acea's smart mobility director Joost Vantomme
  • Safer rail crossings with ESA satellites
    March 21, 2013
    Germany-headquartered Berner and Mattner is to carry out a feasibility study, SafeRail - Improving Safety at Railway Level Crossings, on behalf of the European Space Agency (ESA). The objective of the study, which is to be carried out within ESA’s Integrated Applications Promotion Program, is to determine the technical feasibility and economic viability of a space-based service using an integrated solution which employs different types of space assets in combination with already existing terrestrial techno
  • Ertico CEO: ‘Kazan feedback was staggering’
    March 6, 2020
    The boss of Ertico – ITS Europe has urged people to look seriously at the first ITS Central Eastern Congress in Kazan, even if they do not currently know much about the region.
  • China paves way to enhanced safety with C-V2X
    September 30, 2021
    China is blazing a trail for C-V2X technology and paving the way for deployments worldwide, explains Qualcomm Technologies' Jim Misener