Brussels, 25th January – Over 40 international partners have joined the
iNavSat consortium, created to win the Galileo Concession for global
satellite services. These associated partners are ready to provide equipment
and services to a significant global user base, with outstanding economic
prospects. Established in more than 15 countries in Europe and the rest of
the world, the team has extensive expertise either in infrastructure,
technology, operations and services or market applications. Their activities
cover user location based services, automotive, maritime, aviation
industries, logistics, information technology, cartography, security and
governmental use.
iNavSat consortium partners include: Arcadis (Netherlands), Autostrade
(Italy), Boeing (USA), CASC (China), Deimos (Spain), Deutsche Bahn
(Germany), DFS (Germany), DLR (Germany), Elecnor (Spain), Ericsson (Sweden),
Ertico (Belgium), IfEN (Germany), Tifsa (Spain), Infineon Technologies
(Germany), Insa (Spain), Kongsberg (Norway), Lockheed Martin (USA), mmO2
(UK), NATSNav (UK), Navteq (NL), OHB (Germany/Italy), PTV (Germany),
Roskosmos (Russia), SAPOS (Germany), Sener (Spain), SES Global (Luxembourg),
SciSys (UK), Siemens (Germany), SiRF (USA), Skysoft (Portugal), Telesat
(Canada), Terma (Denmark), TriaGnoSys (Germany), T-Systems (Germany), VEGA
(UK), Vitrociset (Italy).
The overall business case and the financial viability of Galileo has been
assessed in full detail by iNavSat and is supported by 8 European banks,
with some willing to contribute equity. “After reviewing the true
differentiators of Galileo, the service concepts and the financing approach,
we are confident that this is an attractive investment opportunity” said
Michael Dinham, Managing Director Project Finance at ING. He underlined
that: “ING Group is a long-term supporter of Galileo. We are prepared to
provide significant financial support- both as equity and subordinated debt.
We have great confidence in the ability of the iNavSat partners to implement
this complex project. Our Space Finance team looks forward to adding Galileo
to the ?14bn of satellite transactions they have completed to date”.
“Our objective is to make use of lessons learned from existing satellite
navigation systems, which mitigate the technical challenges and give the
senior lenders more comfort for the deployment phase to be performed
according to schedule.” said M. Ripple Director for the Galileo Programme at
EADS SPACE. He continues “the iNavSat’s partnerships in the US and Russia
ensure maximum compatibility on user level for the next decades”. Then
combined with overlay systems such as EGNOS the users will see an unmatched
performance concerning accuracy, availability and redundancy and hence give
the users a complete new world of applications.” Indeed the EU-US agreement
on satellite navigation co-operation signed in June 2004 paved the way to a
long-term co-operation.
The European Commission has also signed international agreements with China
and Israel and is negotiating with others including the Russian Federation,
India and Ukrainia, and promising contacts have been established with
Morocco, South Korea, Australia, Mexico and Brazil. iNavSat is eager to
promote Galileo on a world wide basis as can be seen from the global
presence of its partners.
The iNavSat concession proposal, which was submitted today, will now be
considered by the Galileo Joint Undertaking (GJU). A preferred bidder should
be selected in February, followed by the immediate start of contract
negotiation – finalising the last key milestone on Galileo’s path from
project to reality.
Note to editors:
The iNavSat consortium was founded by EADS SPACE, Inmarsat Ventures and the
Thales Group, who are the respective European market leaders in the fields
of aerospace, mobile satellite communications and navigation-based products
and services. Together they bring an unmatched array of experiences and
skills to the Galileo Programme. This includes for example Skynet
5/Paradigm, the first European satellite concession project, and EGNOS,
where Thales is a key player for its development and Inmarsat satellites
broadcast the EGNOS signals. They were joined by the three additional core
members OHB Technology, SES Global and Vitrociset.
The iNavSat concession proposal for the Galileo Concession was submitted to
the Galileo Joint Undertaking (GJU) today. The evaluation will lead to a
long awaited preferred bidder selection in February through the GJU followed
by an immediate start of the concession contract negotiation. After the
approval by the transport council on December 10th 2004 to move to the
deployment and operating phase of the Galileo programme, the preferred
bidder selection will be the last key milestone to set the tracks for its
realisation.
