26th March 2025. Leonardo has designed, developed, and built the only receiver specifically conceived for the ultra-secure Public Regulated Service (PRS) – provided by the Galileo satellite navigation service – which is currently accredited for use throughout Europe.
It is the first and only device to be accredited for use throughout the continent. Thanks to this accreditation, civil and military bodies will have access to Galileo’s PRS service for secure and accurate positioning and navigation information essential for public security / Photo: Leonardo
The device – produced at the Leonardo plants for the Italian Space Agency and under the coordination of Italy’s Competent PRS Authority, expressed by the Department of Information Security – Central Secrecy Office – has won the approval of the Council of the European Union for IT (Information Technology) security products after successfully completing the process that requires double cryptographic evaluation.
In fact, in line with the directives of the Council of the EU, the receiver was first nationally certified and then tested by a second Authority (Appropriately Qualified Authority – AQUA), chosen from those recognised by the Council for the European certification of cryptographic products. A series of rigorous tests has demonstrated the device’s high level of security under various aspects:
- Computer operations (computer security),
- Encryption for the protection of information (communications security),
- The prevention of information leaks caused by electromagnetic emissions from terminals (emission security).
With its recently awarded certification, the Leonardo receiver will enable all authorised bodies, both civil and military, to access the PRS service of the European Galileo satellite programme, the most accurate worldwide. This encrypted, secure, and resilient service is accessible only to EU Member State government authorised users and provides positioning, navigation, and synchronization data for sensitive applications, including defense, fire services, health services, search and rescue, police, coastguards, and civil protection. The Leonardo receiver is installed on board the vehicles of bodies that use the PRS service to provide reliable, accurate, and cyber-protected information.
The Leonardo receivers are now ready to be sent to Prague, where the EU Agency for the Space Programme (EUSPA) has its headquarters, for tests on the PRS signal in various European countries. This is a preparatory step before the service becomes fully operational. The first device was installed and is now operational at the Galileo security center in Paris.
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