Abstract
A major advantage of the area in and around Braunschweig is its concentration of major research institutes and small to large enterprises dealing with different modes of transportation. For many years, aviation has been a particular focus. The research institutes have aircraft and helicopters equipped especially for research projects, as well as other laboratory equipment, allowing simulation and testing of air traffic application both virtually and on real aircraft. In addition, with the Luftfahrtbundesamt (equivalent organization to FAA) and the Bundesstelle $f{\"{u}}r$ Flugunfalluntersuchung (equivalent to NTSB) both located at the Research Airport, it enables direct contact with two key air-traffic safety authorities. The institutes of DLR and the Technical University of Braunschweig are very active in rail transportation applications. Cooperation with the market leader in rail automation - Siemens Rail Automation, also located in Braunschweig - and with other companies in the Braunschweig region means that safety-critical road applications and mobility research is available due to the activities of a number of institutes. Cooperation with Volkswagen (VW) and other companies in the region ensure access to the market leaders' know-how in this sector. Current European activities within framework of the Galileo project offer particularly good opportunities for the Research Airport to leverage its expertise and position itself internationally as a specialist in safety-critical transport applications - the centre is an initiative of Niedersachsen and the Ministry of Economic Affairs, Labour and Transport Location and navigation plays a central role in all modes of transport - air, road and rail. The market is being revolutionized by the increasing integration of GNSS. The realization of the Galileo system will provide additional opportunities for the Research Airport: Galileo as a civil operated system offers service guarantees especially in the area of safety-critical applications in transportation. Notably standards, processes and authorizations related to the certification of safety-critical applications in the areas of air, road and rail transportation are still to be determined. GAUSS, located at the Research Airport Braunschweig, as an European centre of excellence for simulation, testing and certification of safety-critical applications can offer its expertise to validate the services guaranteed by the Galileo concessionaire.