Europe’s satellite-navigation system has suffered a major outage this week, following a ‘technical incident related to its ground infrastructure.’

The network, called Galileo, went offline on Friday, meaning all receivers will not be picking up any timing or positional information.

Worryingly, this includes most smartphones , which instead must now rely on data from the American Global Positioning System, or Russian and Chinese networks.

The issue was first flagged by the European GNSS Agency (GSA) on Thursday.

The GSA said: “Experts are working to restore the situation as soon as possible.

“An Anomaly Review Board has been immediately set up to analyse the exact root cause and to implement recovery actions.”

According to specialist publication ‘Inside GNSS’, the problem lies with a fault at a Precise Timing Facility (PTF) in Italy.

As the name suggests, a PTF generates the precise time against which all close in the Galileo system are calibrated.

Galileo’s system comprises of 22 operational satellites, and is Europe’s ‘alternative’ to GPS.

The system has been live since December 2016, following 17 years of development by the European Space Agency.

How will the outage affect you?

Galileo has several functions, meaning an outage could have a direct effect on you.

Like GPS, the system provides timing and positional information to smartphones, feeding directly into navigational apps such as Maps and Google Maps.

Thankfully, during the Galileo outage, smartphones can instead use data from GPS, as well as Russian and Chinese networks.

Other uses include the synchronisation of global financial transactions, energy networks and telecommunications.

It remains unclear when the network will be back up and running. </s> Disruption means receivers are not picking up usable signals ‘until futher notice’, reportedly due to a fault at a ground station in Italy

The European Union’s Galileo satellite navigation system is suffering an ongoing outage that has effectively taken the entire system offline since early on Friday morning.

The system is offline until further notice, said the European GNSS Agency (GSA) in a notification sent out at 1:50 Central European Time on Friday.

The problem is down to a fault at a Precise Timing Facility (PTF) in Fucino, Italy, specialist satellite navigation publication Inside GNSS reported, citing unnamed sources.

A European spacecraft ground station has been maintained in Fucino since the 1960s.

Precise Timing Facilities generate the reference time against which Galileo’s clocks are calibrated, and are part of the complex ground infrastructure that maintains the system.

Galileo’s function that picks up distress beacon messages for search and rescue operations is reportedly unaffected by the outage.

“Experts are working to restore the situation as soon as possible,” the GSA said. “An Anomaly Review Board has been immediately set up to analyse the exact root cause and to implement recovery actions.”

The outage means that Galileo receivers are not picking up usable position and timing information, and must fall back on systems including the US’ GPS, Russia’s Glonass and China’s Beidou.

The system, which went live in December 2016, is in a pilot phase until next year, meaning that it is not currently intended for use with critical applications.

However, the outage is an embarrassment for the EU, which has spent billions on the system, arguing in part that it offers an additional level of reliability.

Galileo is also said to be more accurate than rival systems.

The UK has contributed more than £1 billion to the project, but its continued involvement with Galileo is in question following the vote to leave the European Union.

In August of last year Prime Minister Theresa May said £92m had been set aside to investigate possible Galileo alternatives. </s> Brussels [Belgium], July 16 (ANI): The European Union's (EU) Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS), Galileo, suffered a full system failure over the weekend due to a "technical incident related to its ground infrastructure."

While the project is in its pilot phase, it was imagined as a competitor to the US-controlled Global Positioning System (GPS) and Russia's GLONASS system, according to CNN. Galileo is slated to be fully operational by next year.

"Experts are working to restore the situation as soon as possible. An Anomaly Review Board has been immediately set up to analyze the exact root cause and to implement recovery actions," the European GNSS Agency (GSA) said.

Faults with the system were first reported last week.

The 22-satellite system, which was launched in 2016, prides itself on being a programme which operates under civilian --and not military -- control.

Galileo is run by the GSA, European Commission and the European Space Agency.

Europeans are currently using data from American and Russian GPS networks in the wake of the outage. While Galileo's navigation system is down, its Search and Rescue service is unaffected. (ANI) </s> The European Union's satellite navigation system, Galileo, has been down for four days due to a technical incident on the ground, the European Global Navigation Satellite Systems Agency (GSA) said on Sunday.

As of Monday morning, 24 of the 26 satellites in Galileo's constellation are still "not usable", according to the GSA's system status.

The GSA has so far provided little information for the major outage, which started on Thursday, with the agency saying at the time that "the signals may not be available nor meet the minimum performance levels."

It then told service users on Saturday that "the cause of the technical incident is identified" and on Sunday revealed that the incident is "related to its ground infrastructure."

"Experts are working to restore the situation as soon as possible. An Anomaly Review Board has been immediately set up to analyse the exact root cause and to implement recovery actions," it added.

Only Galileo Search and Rescue (SAR) service — used for locating and helping people in distress situations — is unaffected and remains operational.

Galileo was first launched in 2016 and is expected to be fully deployed in 2020. It is meant to improve GPS services on the Old Continent and end the reliance on US, Russian and Chinese systems.

It is intended to be used by civilians, commercial endeavours, governments and the military. </s> Image copyright PA

Europe's satellite-navigation system, Galileo, remains offline.

The network suffered an outage on Friday due to what has been described as a "technical incident related to its ground infrastructure".

Engineers worked around the clock over the weekend but there is no update yet on when the service will resume.

The problem means all receivers, such as the latest smartphone models, will not be picking up any useable timing or positional information.

These devices will be relying instead on the data coming from the American Global Positioning System (GPS).

And depending on the sat-nav chip they have installed, cell phones and other devices might also be making connections with the Russian (Glonass) and Chinese (Beidou) networks.

Galileo is still in a roll-out, or pilot phase, meaning it would not yet be expected to lead critical applications.

"People should remember that we are still in the 'initial services' phase; we're not in full operation yet," a spokesperson for the European GNSS Agency (GSA) told BBC News.

"This is something that can happen while we build the robustness into the system. We have recovery and monitoring actions, and we are implementing them, and we are working 24/7 to fix this as soon as possible."

The GSA issued a notification on Thursday warning users that Galileo's signals might become unreliable. An update was then sent out at 01:50 Central European Time on Friday to say that the service was out of use until further notice.

The search and rescue function on Galileo satellites that picks up the distress beacon messages from those at sea or up high mountains is said to be unaffected by the outage.

What is Galileo?

A project of the European Commission and the European Space Agency

24 satellites constitute a full system but it will also have spares in orbit

24 spacecraft are in orbit today; two more will launch next year

Original budget was €3bn but will now cost more than three times that

Works alongside the US GPS, Chinese Beidou and Russian Glonass systems

Promises eventual real-time positioning down to a metre or less

Galileo is a multi-billion-euro project of the European Union and the European Space Agency. The EU owns the system, and Esa acts as the technical and procurement agent.

There are currently 22 operational satellites in orbit (another two are in space but in testing), with a further 12 under construction with industry. In addition to the spacecraft, Galileo relies on a complex ground infrastructure to control the network and monitor its performance.

Europe's alternative to GPS went "live" with initial services in December 2016 after 17 years of development. The European Commission promotes Galileo as more than just a back-up service; it is touted also as being more accurate and more robust.

An outage across the entire network is therefore a matter of significant concern and no little embarrassment.

Since its launch in 1978, GPS has become integral to the functioning of all modern economies.

Usage goes far beyond just finding one's way through an unfamiliar city. The system's timing function has now become ubiquitous in many fields, including in the synchronisation of global financial transactions, telecommunications and energy networks.

Jonathan.Amos-INTERNET@bbc.co.uk and follow me on Twitter: @BBCAmos </s> MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 14th July, 2019) The European Union's Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) Galileo experienced an unexpected signal outage over the weekend, the European GNSS Service Centre said.

The signals are not to be used," an advisory notice to Galileo users, issued by the center on Saturday, read.

The Galileo system was launched in 2016.

Its space segment consists of a constellation of satellites that transmit radio signals for position, navigation and timing purposes. </s> The EU's new satellite navigation system - which the UK is set to be controversially excluded from due to Brexit - has suffered a major outage.

Initial outage reports came through on Thursday, when the system suffered a "technical incident related to its ground infrastructure" which has affected all of its users.

According to the European Global Navigation Satellite Systems Agency, or GSA, the issue specifically affects the European spacecraft ground station in Fucino, in Italy, where atomic clocks are used to synchronise the signals from the satellites.Quick publish

Brussels has insisted that the UK cannot remain a full member of the Galileo system for security reasons following its departure from the EU, although negotiations on the matter remain ongoing.

Last August, Theresa May announced a £92m satellite project for the UK to develop a rival to the EU's Galileo in a sign she expected Britain to be frozen out of the project following Brexit.

The UK is currently dependent on the US for access to its GPS system, and the EU for the Galileo satellite navigation system.

This dependence leaves the UK's navigation systems exposed to both the risks of international politics, as well as the availability of the signal itself - which has taken a significant hit this weekend.

Galileo is still in a trial period, and the EU has said that it wouldn't be fully operational until 2020, when it is expected to provide positioning data of unprecedented accuracy.

Even during its early development the Galileo project was hit by several technical and budgetary setbacks, including the launch of two satellites into the wrong orbit in 2014. </s> The EU's satellite navigation system, developed as an alternative to the United States' GPS, is fully offline due to "a technical incident related to its ground infrastructure," the bloc's space agency said Sunday.

"The incident has led to a temporary interruption of the Galileo initial navigation and timing services," the Prague-based European Global Navigation Satellite Systems Agency said, adding that Galileo's search and rescue system used to locate distress signals at sea or in mountainous regions was still operational.

Galileo is the world's fourth geo-location satellite system, after ones created by the U.S, Russia and China, and has been pitched by the EU as a more accurate alternative to GPS. The EU has poured some €10 billion into the system, which has operated on a trial basis since late 2016 and is set to be fully operational by the mid-2020s with 30 satellites in orbit.

The current problems with the nascent system were first reported on Thursday, but by Saturday evening, all 22 satellites in orbit were listed as offline. On Sunday, a public notice was posted and GNSS has so far given no timeline for fixing the issue.

Currently, only a limited number of consumer mobile phones are equipped to pick up Galileo's signal. In the meantime, GPS is used to augment Galileo and spot problems with the new system, GNSS said. </s> European Union‘s Galileo satellite network is down. According to reports, EU’s satellites for its global positioning system have suffered severe outage since July 11th.

In a notice advisory posted by the European Global Navigation Satellite Systems Agency online for all Galileo users, it said:

“Until further notice, users may experience service degradation on all Galileo satellites. This means that the signals may not be available nor meet the minimum performance levels defined in the service definition documents and should be employed at user’ own risk. The nominal service will be resumed as soon as possible.”

As per GNSS‘ last update about the status of its GPS satellites, Galileo network remains affected by a technical incident allegedly related to its ground infrastructure.

“The incident has led to a temporary interruption of the Galileo initial navigation and timing services, with the exception of the Galileo Search and Rescue (SAR) service. The SAR service – used for locating and helping people in distress situations for example at sea or mountains – is unaffected and remains operational.”

The Galileo satellite network was developed and launched by GNSS on December 2016. Its primary purpose is to provide member nations of the Europen Union an independent high-precision positioning system, stopping their reliance on the United States’ GPS and Russia’s GLONASS.

The Galileo satellite constellation offers lower-precision service free of charge to anyone. However, its high-precision service is available for paying commercial users

Just recently, the Federal Communications Commission has approved the utilization of Galileo GPS on U.S. smartphones. The approval reportedly aims to provide users with faster and more accurate sat nav capabilities.

To date, the Galileo satellite network is widely used not just by government agencies, but by private tech firms and most of the world’s academic institutions.

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The European Union's Galileo satellite navigation system suffers a major outage due to a "technical incident related to its ground infrastructure," taking all active Galileo satellites offline.