As part of improving the resilience of the Open Service Galileo signals, “Open Service Navigation Message Authentication” or OSNMA is being developed to provide users with an authentication on the navigation data they receive.

OSNMA has been in a public testing phase since 15-11-2021, using a User Interface Control Document specific to the testing phase. As of 03-08-2023, the Galileo Service Center reported that the Signal-in-Space switched from the test format, to the format that is expected to be used by the operational service.

To improve the robustness for all users, OSNMA will provide additional authentication of satellite signals, free of charge. To use the OSNMA, the user requires a compatible receiver, such as those provided by Septentrio or ublox.

OSNMA will not completely mitigate the risks for satellite navigation, it can still be jammed, but it does make it more difficult (but not impossible!) to spoof the satellite signal. OSNMA will help to detect spoofing attacks, which helps to make track-and-trace, smart tachographs, or the flight of drones more secure.

After successful completion of the public testing phase, it is expected that OSNMA will enter Initial Service in Q4 2023, making the service available for Galileo users.

Galileo Implementation Roadmap (source: Galileo Open Service Navigation Message Authentication (OSNMA) | European GNSS Service Centre (gsc-europa.eu)