STARNAV has mounted MAGELLAN AERO for an aircraft experiment, which will take our astro-inertial navigation system to the southern hemisphere.
The system can now be fitted to existing aircraft without modification!
The system will therefore have the qualities of :
- low noise provided by the inertial unit,
- zero drift thanks to astral technology.
MAGELLAN AERO also features a time generator based on a highly stable OCXO oscillator, making the system independent of the carrier’s time management system. This generator makes it possible to date the data and maintain the dating accuracy that is so vital to our ephemerides.
In the future, STARNAV plans to be able to merge other navigation sources in order to design the most robust and resilient system in the event of disruption or loss of radionavigation. MAGELLAN AERO’s ambition is to become the reference solution for navigation in « GPS denied » environments.
The high-performance inertial system (Exail UMIX) will be recalibrated in attitude by the wide-field astral sight, which uses the stars at night and the sun during the day. Performance will be measured during this operation. This first sequence of operational tests will provide STARNAV with a wealth of information for optimizing MAGELLAN AERO.
MAGELLAN AERO uses the historic sextant hole, which is no longer in use. A simple rail system allows it to be extended and retracted according to operational requirements. The volume of the system is close to that of the old manual sextant.