DOVER satellite
DOVER Pathfinder (DOVER) is a mission co-funded both by RHEA and the European Space Agency (ESA) via Navigation Innovation and Support Programme (NAVISP)
Participants
DOVER Pathfinder (DOVER) is a mission co-funded both by RHEA and the European Space Agency (ESA) via Navigation Innovation and Support Programme (NAVISP), which was created to support innovation and competitiveness in the European Position, Navigation, and Timing (PNT) market. The DOVER satellite was designed by RHEA-UK (RHEA) for a satellite bus built by UK company Open Cosmos that incorporated the hardware required to support the RHEA-designed payload to demonstrate GNSS resilience and independence. The DOVER Pathfinder mission also includes test and evaluation of a RHEA designed PNT waveform, RHEA built ground user equipment, and a full DOVER constellation simulator.
Purpose
RHEA’s DOVER satellite was created as a pathfinder for resilient global navigation satellite systems (GNSS). The NAVISP program aims to facilitate and support the next generation of innovations that complement, upgrade or replace current PNT technologies. DOVER is being co-funded through NAVISP Element 2, which focuses on industry capabilities and competitiveness.
Responsible Launch
PNT data plays an increasingly important role in civil, commercial, and military applications, including resilient critical infrastructure, supporting many applications in areas such as navigation, finance, and critical infrastructure automation. It is estimated that in the UK alone, a loss of space-based PNT services would cost the UK economy around £1 billion every day.
