Tag: Galileo

A Russian Soyuz rocket blasted off from French Guiana on Friday (21 October) bearing the first two satellites in Europe's Galileo global positioning system, a much-heralded mission which may generate €90 billion in economic and social benefits over two decades and will redraw commercial competition in space.

The European Commission will propose on Monday (4 April) to strengthen the EU's space policy with the aim of increasing the bloc's capability "to pursue independent missions". 

Germany's OHB Technology is to provide 14 satellites for the EU's Galileo navigation system, while Arianespace of France will put them into orbit in order to build a European rival to the US GPS system by 2014.

The European Commission's leadership and management skills have been found wanting by a Court of Auditors report into the EU's much-delayed Galileo satellite navigation project. The report, published on 29 June, also blames individual countries for defending their commercial interests throughout the programme.

The path for the EU's satellite navigation system to become operational by 2013 has been cleared after member states agreed implementation rules outlining a timetable and industrial tendering plan as well as a clear division of roles and responsibilities between the three EU institutions.

The Galileo satellite navigation system is the European civil alternative to the US Global Positioning System (GPS) and the Russian GLONASS, both funded and controlled by military authorities.

For the first time, the EU will be spending more on competitiveness than agriculture. After a conciliation meeting last Friday, the Council and Parliament reached an agreement on the 2008 budget, securing an extra €2.7 billion for the EU's two flagship projects - Galileo and the European Institute of Technology.

After an exchange of views on the financing of Galileo, the Council has asked the Commission to re-examine its funding proposal before the EU's 2008 budget council next week.

The Commission last week proposed funding Galileo entirely from the EU budget in order to guarantee strategic autonomy for Europe. The move comes just as the United States announced that a more accurate version of the Global Positioning System (GPS) will be made freely available for civilian activities.

Contrary to popular belief, the issue bedevilling Galileo is not finding public funding, as there are many Member States willing to invest heavily, argues André Ferron in a paper for the think-tank Confrontations Europe. Nevertheless, Gallileo should not be ''nationalised'': it would be better if public funding were endorsed by the EU so that its own interests prevail, he claims.

EU transport ministers are set to ask the Commission to come up with more detailed options for completing the Galileo project, following disagreement over public financing. They will have their final say on the satellite-navigation project in October.

To avoid any further delays in the project and to guarantee the best value for taxpayers' money, the Commission is proposing to finance the building of the Galileo satellite infrastructure entirely with public funds.

Galileo consortium companies were given until 10 May to solve their internal disputes or risk losing the project, as otherwise the Commission will consider launching a new call for tender for the EU satellite navigation system.

The Commission has launched a consultation on Satellite Navigation Applications, with the advent of the European satellite navigation system Galileo.

After China, Israel and Ukraine, India has become the fourth country to sign a co-operation agreement on Galileo.

The winning proposal merging the two initial competitors, Eurely and iNavSat, is expected to bring higher commercial revenues thanks to a concentration of the know-how of the two bidders.

The Commission proposes developing the European space policy based on the Galileo satellite navigation programme.

International cooperation on Galileo is developing rapidly. The Commission has now asked Council's approval to start negotiations with Argentina.

EU transport ministers have agreed on the deployment and operational phases of the European Global Navigation Satellite System programmes.

Transport ministers have agreed that all citizens should have the same ten-year driving licence across the EU. Despite the Dutch Presidency's efforts to reach a compromise on the Eurovignette directive, no agreement was possible.

Negotiations between the Commission and the United States on the relationship between the EU-planned Galileo satellite navigation system and the US Global Positioning System (GPS) are progressing well.

On 18 september, the EU and China signed an agreement to develop jointly Galileo, the European global satellite navigation system.

The Commission on 24 September presented a Communication on the EU satellite system Galileo taking stock of developments and setting out the next steps to take.

Leading European high-tech companies have urged European governments to adopt the Galileo satellite network, although they refused to say how much they would invest in the project.