Last week the European Union has launched its own  navigation system – EGNOS (European Global Navigation Overlay System). This so called “precursor” system is expected to provide free positioning for 27 European states. Egnos is based on the first EU’s satellite positioning project, Galileo, and enhances the exactness of the control centers in Western and Central Europe.

EGNOS includes three satellites and more than 40 positioning stations which combine to take signals from US powered GPS satellites and enhance them to provide more exact positioning than GPS alone. It is expected to let users navigate with an accuracy of about six feet (to meters) in comparison to 60 feet (10 meters) for GPS only based systems. The EGNOS’ signals can be received by GPS devices upgraded with a special software.

Currently EGNOS signals are only available in Western and Central Europe. It is planned to include Eastern Europe and North Africa as well in the next years.