European company Astrium’s subsidiary AXIO-NET will provide a global navigation satellite system (GNSS) reference network for a new motorway between Germany and Denmark.

The road is part of the 19km Fehmarnbelt Fixed Link project between the islands of Fehmarn in Germany and Lolland in Denmark, and is expected to carry up to 8,000-10,000 cars a day.

The GNSS network, accurate to about 2cm, will feature four stations to provide 24/7 precise positioning data to engineers during the seven-year construction period.

The €4.5bn-€5.5bn ($6m-$7.4m) Fixed Link, which will cross a 19km expanse of water, is scheduled to open in 2018 and is expected to become a key passenger and freight link between continental Europea and Scandinavia.

The contract has been awarded by Danish state owned privately operated company Femern.