Galileo gets go-ahead as Europe's answer to GPS navigation

Antonio Rodotà, ESA Director General, said:

“This is a great day for Europe in general and its space community in particular. Conscious of the economic, industrial and strategic importance of satellite navigation, our Member States have reached agreement in the common interest. We are now able to continue with Galileo, a major programme from which all citizens will benefit. Galileo is definitely a reality."

According to an ESA, the agreement reached among member states clears the way for the official launch of the legal entity that will have the task of coordinating ESA and EU involvement in Galileo. This will be called the Galileo Joint Undertaking and will be headquartered in Brussels.

The intention is that Galileo will complement the existing satellite navigation system, which presently relies entirely on GPS, the American Global Positioning System. Developed by ESA and the EU on the basis of equal co-funding, Galileo is designed to provide a complete civil system of navigation, and should be operational by 2008.

The system will be built around 30 satellites (27 operational and 3 reserve craft) occupying three circular earth orbits at an altitude of 23,616 km. The configuration will provide excellent coverage of the planet. Two Galileo control centres will be established in Europe to control satellite operations and to manage the navigation system.

The system will support a broad range of applications, including control of road, rail and sea traffic and synchronised data transmission between computers. Research carried out by ESA indicates that significant economic benefits will follow, including the creation of over 140,000 jobs.

Galileo has taken several years to get off the ground, initially because of doubt on the part of several ESA members, including the UK, that the system was actually needed. Recent events, and the growing terrorist threat, have encouraged progress, and the member states have even been able to agree on funding for the project.

According to Cordis News, the UK, France, Germany and Italy will each make contributions of 17.31% of the costs, likely to be around €547 million. Spain’s contribution will amount to 10.14%.

However, there is still one hurdle to overcome. The ESA has to obtain rights to use the frequencies it needs to operate the system and these will be allocated at the forthcoming World Radiocommunication Conference in Geneva, by the body with control over the global radio spectrum – the International Telecommunications Union.

The conference is due to take place next month.