Thank you, Madam Chair.
Thank you for the opportunity to be here today on behalf of Hexagon's autonomy and positioning division based in Calgary.
At Hexagon, we have been on the cutting edge of global positioning technologies for over 25 years. Our high-precision GPS products are used across many industries, enabling safe navigation from point A to point B. Our navigation technologies can be found in many civilian and military aircraft, as well as in the ground infrastructure that enables the use of GPS for airborne guidance and precision landing.
Why is a GPS company here talking to you today? It's because GPS is an enabler for modernization and automation of aerospace, and Canada is poised to be a technology leader in this transition. I'm sure you've heard from others in these sessions that the demands on our airspace are growing for shipping and logistics, surveillance, movement of people and emergency response, to name a few.
Piloted aircraft alone will not fully meet the future demands of these services. Our future airspace will look much more crowded than it does today. We'll need to support safe, simultaneous operation of piloted, remotely piloted and autonomous aircraft that use GPS as their primary means of navigation. Canada is uniquely positioned to benefit from airspace modernization, given our vast geography, the opening of the north and remote communities with challenging logistics and transportation needs.
Accurate and reliable positioning is a critical requirement for airspace modernization. It will enable co-operation of piloted and autonomous vehicles, and allow operation of unmanned aircraft beyond the pilot's visual line of sight. Current regulation limits operation of these aircraft to short travel distances and limited landing areas.
GPS is a critical technology for achieving better use of our airspace, but it has significant limitations that must be mitigated to ensure it can be used safely. GPS navigation relies on unimpeded and uninterrupted access to satellite signals—signals that are broadcast in the L-band radio spectrum. This spectrum is becoming increasingly crowded and is highly susceptible to both intentional and unintentional signal interference.
In addition, bad actors are increasingly able to spoof or hack GPS signals to interfere with vehicle navigation. Interference and spoofing are serious threats to aircraft and also to the GPS infrastructure installed at Canada's airports and used for precision landings. The good news is that industry is rising to the challenge and addressing these limitations, but innovations to GPS technologies are outpacing aerospace regulations.
How can government help? First, awareness, monitoring and, most importantly, enforcement mechanisms are needed at the national level to protect the radio frequency spectrum used for satellite navigation. Second, investment is needed to protect Canadian GPS infrastructure from jamming and spoofing. Off-the-shelf solutions are available for this. Third, this is a global market and Canadian companies need assistance to become competitive in exporting our aerospace technologies worldwide.
There are two main areas of focus. Canadian manufacturers need access to new navigation satellite constellations being launched by the EU and the U.K. Of highest priority is access to the EU Galileo constellation, specifically the publicly regulated satellite signal or PRS. The Galileo constellation is configured to provide better performance at high latitudes than GPS, an important aspect for operation in our northern territories. The signal structure of PRS makes it robust against the threat of spoofing and hacking. Canada's membership in the European Space Agency may be a way to pursue this.
On the other front, to be successful as exporters Canadian companies also need clear export policy and guidelines. Many technologies developed toward modernized civil aviation will fall under export controls. To be competitive worldwide we need collaborative, responsive, predictable and transparent export controls. In the past, this has been a competitive advantage for Canada, but in our experience we have lost this advantage recently.
Canadian companies like ours are ready to invest in technology and bring products to market, but the investment is risky without a clear timeline for an updated regulatory framework. Canada needs to work closely with regulators in other jurisdictions like the U.S. and the EU to update navigation standards. We also need timelines for implementation of new technologies into aircraft flight navigation systems.
With an easy-to-navigate regulatory framework, Canada could become a destination for autonomy development. Together we have the opportunity to empower Canadian companies to lead the world in technologies for autonomous aircraft. We hope you will consider our input.
Thank you, Madam Chair.