GALILEO – update

Less than two years after the project?s launch and six months after the setting up of the Galileo joint undertaking (GJU), the European Commision (EC) reports that the development phase, which extends from 2002 to 2005, is progressing as planned.

Galileo is the first civil global

satellite navigation programme and will be administered and controlled by civilians and offers a guarantee of quality and continuity essential

for many sensitive applications.

Currently, the two providers of satellite radio navigation systems are GPS, set up four years ago by the US government, and GLONASS, which is controlled by the Russian government. Both are financed and controlled by the military authorities.

The GJU?s main task is to prepare for the Galileo programme deployment and operational phase, which should culminate in the selection of a concession holder to take charge of running the future Galileo operating company. The procedure for selecting this private company has been set up by GJU and, when appointed, it will take over to finish deployment of the satellites in orbit and finalise installation of the ground segment necessary to complete the system. It will then manage the operational phase.

In the short-term, under the development and in-orbit validation phase, ESA (European Space Agency) is responsible for the launch of the first of two experimental satellites scheduled for September 2005. This will serve the dual purpose of securing the frequencies reserved for Galileo until June 2006 by the International Telecommunications Union and testing of the new technologies.

Three or four test satellites will subsequently be launched for validation of the system around 2006/2007. The core of the Galileo system is its constellation of 30 satellites (27 operational and 3 spare) circling in medium earth orbit and will provide global coverage.

Agreement

The GJU has also concluded a cooperation agreement with China in October 2003 and, in February this year, reached an agreement with the USA on most of the overall principles of GPS/Galileo cooperation. For marine navigation regulated by the IMO, Galileo will be an additional means of implementing the regulations on AIS and vessel traffic management systems to increase navigation safety and collision prevention. AIS depends on satellite navigation and, for the time being, the only source is GPS.

In another development, Kongsberg Seatex AS has signed an agreement with the GJU under which it will lead the Maritime Galileo (MARGAL) consortium. This group will address future use and standardisation of Galileo Maritime services based on early use of the European Geostationary Navigation Overlay Service (EGNOS). Complementing existing GPS and GLONASS services, EGNOS will make use of correction data to improve the accuracy of current services. EGNOS will cover all European states but could readily be extended to include other regions such as South America, Africa and parts of Asia and Australia.