A new technology demonstration project in the UK will test a timing link between the country’s official timekeeping authority and its eLoran navigation system.
Known as a two-way satellite time and frequency transfer (TWSTFT) system, the project is being conducted under the TOUCAN (TWSTFT Capability Demonstration) program.
The project is funded by the UK Space Agency, supported by the UK National PNT Office and managed through the European Space Agency’s navigation program, NAVISP.
Technology company GMV has been chosen to design, integrate and deliver the operational demonstration of the system, with Viasat to supply satellite signal bandwidth.
Alternative to GNSS
Timing is the backbone of all positioning and navigation systems, and therefore lies at the heart of the geospatial sector.
The problem is that the whole world has become dependent on the GNSS, and GPS in particular, for the supply of precise timing signals.
But the GNSS is becoming increasingly vulnerable to disruption on the ground through jamming and spoofing, and in orbit through potential destruction or denial via anti-satellite weapons and jamming.
The TOUCAN project aims to test ways of reducing reliance on the GNSS for the UK’s positioning, navigation and timing (PNT) needs.
The project’s main objective is to demonstrate an accurate, independently verifiable TWSTFT link between the eLoran transmitter and the UK’s National Physical Laboratory (NPL).
Loran (long-range navigation) is a ground-based timing signal broadcast system that has been around for a long time, but which fell out of favour as GNSS timing took over.
Enhanced, or eLoran, is a more modern iteration that is being deployed by a variety of countries, notably China.
It’s about time
The TOUCAN system will provide a TWSTFT link to a facility that operates an R&D timescale, which contractor GMV says is “a secure reference that will one day be essential for synchronising operations, maintaining communication integrity, and supporting mission-critical systems”.
“Precise and secure timing is at the heart of so much we rely on every day – from banking and transport to energy and communications,” said Dr Paul Bate, CEO of The UK Space Agency.
“This investment in UK satellite timing through TOUCAN is about more than technology; it’s about protecting the everyday services people and businesses depend on.”
