Bavaria was one of the first of the world’s regions to recognize satellite navigation’s potential, and one of the first to formulate a masterplan for its development. As a result, the state is a leader in all of the industry’s fields, with these including the manufacturing and assembly of components, and the commercial utilization of applications. The state’s satellite navigation community:

• is a major player in each of the links forming the chain of value added, with these including the  development of chips and extending to the relaying of data and the locally-based provision of related services,
• has networks of research and application forming part of Germany and worldwide grids.

The state’s infrastructure of research into communication, navigation and geoinformation systems is world-class:

• The institutes maintained by DLR (Germany’s Aerospace Agency) in Oberpfaffenhofen
• Fraunhofer Institute for Integrated Circuits (IIS), Nuremberg
• Institutes forming part of TUM (Technical University Munich)
• The Neubiberg-based Institute for Earth Measurement and Navigation of the University of the Federal Armed Forces
• The knowhow possessed by the Fraunhofer institute in and University of Erlangen on the locating and navigation of satellites

Bavaria’s office of surveying and geoinformation is a leader in the field of the use of satellite-based technologies (SAPOS).

High-qualified personnel for Bavaria’s satellite navigation sector
High-tech requires highly-qualified personnel. The truth of this adage is shown by the fact that 83% of the people staffing the satellite navigation companies based in greater Munich hold academic degrees. Many of these degrees and thus the personnel stem from Bavaria’s renowned institutions of higher education. In addition to satellite navigation, they offer degree programs in telecommunications and geoinformation:

• TUM (Technische University Munich)
• University of Erlangen-Nuremberg
• University of the Federal Armed Forces in Neubiberg
• University of Applied Sciences in Munich
• University of Würzburg

To provide support to the development of satellite navigation, the state government has enacted the following policies:

• the creation of a network comprised of manufacturers, research institutes and state bodies, with this being undertaken by:
• bavAIRia e.V.‘s lead management of the aerospace and satellite navigation clusters, and its staging of Galileo road shows and of forums of application and trade symposiums. These serve to forge links among the players comprising satellite navigation’s supply chain, and with important sectors of application.
• GIS roundtable
• The construction of the AZO center for the application of satellite navigation systems. The center adjoins DLR’s site in Oberpfaffenhofen.
• The construction of the only facility in Germany employing components in Galileo simulation and testing operations
• The Galileo Test Facility  To be used to verify Galileo’s signals, the facility will be ready in time for Galileo’s IOV phase.
• Now being created in the Berchtesgaden area is GATE. This Galileo simulation facility will provide the signals needed by everyone from chip developers to producers of automotive-use navigation systems to test their products.
• The Oberpfaffenhofen-based AZO has been working with Gothenburg, Nice, London, Prague and other regions in staging the Galileo Masters competition. Its objective: to come up with the best ideas as to the system’s application
• Linking up the center of application’s operations with the trade fairs staged by Munich’s authority
• Working with the Turin region in creating a masters degree program in satellite navigation

…is available from „Key Technologies in Bavaria“. This databank contains entries on Bavaria’s satellite navigation companies.