The European Space Agency signed contracts with three Norwegian companies on October 27, 2026, covering interference-testing services, maritime positioning sensors, and drone navigation. The agreements were signed at Spaceport Norway in Oslo under ESA’s Navigation Innovation and Support Programme, known as NAVISP, following a Norwegian Space Agency funding call.
The contract announcement, published the following day, identifies Testnor, Norse Navigation, and Rift Dynamics as the contractors. Their projects address different requirements: reproducing interference for testing, recognizing unreliable positioning aboard vessels, and sustaining drone operation when satellite navigation becomes unavailable.
Recorded Interference for Laboratory Testing
Testnor’s Signal Data Library will offer recorded interference scenarios and a radio-frequency replay service. Its NAVISP project record describes dedicated broadband recording equipment deployed at Jammertest, Norway’s outdoor satellite-navigation interference exercise.
Customers will be able to license recordings through a purpose-built web platform. The planned service allows equipment to be evaluated against recorded conditions without requiring the customer to attend the outdoor exercise. Intended applications include receiver and chipset development, antenna testing, and verification of integrated navigation systems.
Recording and replay also make an interference scenario repeatable. Developers can expose equipment to the same recorded conditions when comparing configurations or assessing changes, rather than depending entirely on a new outdoor test.
The project record lists a September 1, 2026, start date and a 24-month duration. The October signing announcement should consequently be distinguished from that earlier recorded activity start. The stated objective is to develop an operational commercial service over the project period.
Maritime Authentication and Drone Continuity
Norse Navigation will develop sensors for merchant vessels and professional maritime users. The work combines reception from multiple satellite constellations, Galileo Open Service Navigation Message Authentication, interference detection, controlled degraded operation, and bridge-compatible alerts.
Message authentication allows compatible equipment to check navigation data. It addresses a different problem from jamming, which can prevent reception altogether. New Space Economy’s explanation of Galileo authentication services distinguishes checking navigation messages from authenticating the ranging measurements used to calculate position. These functions should not be treated as interchangeable.
Rift Dynamics, supported by subcontractor Comrod, will develop navigation for low-cost, expendable unmanned aircraft. Arctic jamming and spoofing trials will test a target of 10 minutes of reliable operation without usable satellite navigation, followed by recovery when signals return. That duration is a development objective, not a reported flight-test result.
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