Researchers from the Institute of the Space Sciences (ICE-CSIC) lead an ESA test campaign using Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS), yielding a sharper way of sea tracking.
 
ICE researchers Estel Cardellach and Serni Ribó set up an experimental satellite navigation receiver station high atop Mallorca island, that picks up satnav signals as they bounce off ocean waves in a way that is not possible with commercial receivers.

The experiment took place in the Air Force’s Air Surveillance Squadron 7 in Mallorca. It has been in motion from April to July and it has produced an extensive dataset: collecting data at 320 MB per second, the campaign has compiled over 40 Terabytes of GNSS-R data.

This test campaign was supported through ESA’s Open Space Innovation Platform and it will pave the way for a new small reflectometry mission called PRETTY (Passive REflecTomeTry and dosimetry), which is scheduled to be launched in the second half of 2022.