The European Commission, European Space Agency and private companies have
been given the go-ahead, with an initial 100 million Euros of funding,
to prepare for a Private Public Partnership (PPP) to develop and deliver
Galileo, Europe’s contribution to the next generation global navigation
satellite service. One billion Euros (from Commission and ESA funds) will
be allocated for the full development phase in December, with the aim
of commissioning a fully operating system by 2008. Galileo will enable
Europe to create a truly integrated transport infrastructure making more
efficient use of land, sea and air resources, improving safety and
generating new commercial and public services.
“This is excellent news for the whole of European Industry,” said M.
Armand CARLIER, Chairman and Chief Executive of Astrium, “and especially
for those in the space community. Galileo is a major programme that will
have considerable economic benefits in terms of market and employment
all over Europe. Astrium, a major partner in Galileo Industries which
was created last year in Brussels, wholly endorses the initiative of the
European Commission and will continue to support the development of the
different phases of the project.”
Development phase
The development phase now agreed will include the preparation, in close
cooperation with ESA, of detailed project objectives and mission
requirements, such as system performance, optimised interoperability,
compatibility and redundancy with other satellite navigation systems,
and aspects of continuity of service for critical applications in
crisis situations.
New opportunities for Europe
Galileo will be designed to provide homogeneous services over the entire
European Community, including the northern latitudes, deploying up to
30 Medium Earth Orbit satellites. The greatly enhanced performance and
guaranteed availability of Galileo will combine with other satellite
navigation systems to offer users a more robust world service, opening
up huge opportunities for all-new service applications and high-quality,
maximum added-value work for companies all over Europe. Galileo will
change the way we live and work by offering commercial markets, for the
first time, positioning and timing information that will be accurate
and reliable enough to permit safety critical applications, even in
urban environments. By fusing this data with mobile communications
systems there will be a huge expansion into new areas including
personal location-based information services. Transport uses will
expand from vehicle navigation and tracking into asset management,
road traffic monitoring, railway operations and air traffic management.
Oil and gas exploration, emergency services, and financial and banking
services will also benefit enormously from Galileo.
Astrium
As a world leader in satellite navigation systems and all aspects of
ground segment and total service provision, Astrium is playing a major
role in the development of Galileo. Together with its Galileo Industries
joint venture partners, Alenia Spazio and Alcatel Space, it welcomes the
decision of the Transport Council to proceed towards a decision on the
full development of the programme later this year.
Astrium
As a world leader in satellite navigation systems and all aspects of
ground segment and total service provision, Astrium is playing a major
role in the development of Galileo. Together with its Galileo Industries
joint venture partners, Alenia Spazio and Alcatel Space, it welcomes the
decision of the Transport Council to proceed towards a decision on the
full development of the programme later this year.
