Tag: satellite navigation

The European Commission yesterday (2 July) cleared Nokia's acquisition of US digital map maker Navteq in a move expected to reshape the growing market for satellite map databases, which are becoming a must-have gadget for cars and smartphones.

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.

The Commission has asked the member states to let it start negotiations on a co-operation agreement with Seoul over South Korea's participation in Galileo. 

The Commission has adopted a communication concluding that the European satellite navigation project, Galileo, is ready to be moved to the deployment and operational phases. China has signed an agreement to fund and particpate in Galileo.

A Commission satellite project detects fine particulate matter, now one of the biggest health threats, to help EU environmental policy making.

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.