GALILEO project set to continue
The European Commission has adopted a Communication to mark the end of the definition phase of GALILEO, the European satellite navigation project for civil uses. The Communication presents the results of the definition phase of GALILEO, which it has undertaken together with the European Space Agency (ESA). GALILEO will be operated and controlled by civilians. At present, anyone can obtain a GPS receiver, which will show them their position on the road, at sea or in the mountains. The current receiver does not however guarantee accuracy or continuity of service. The Communication confirms the strategic and economic interest of the programme, and proposes to the Transport Council, meeting on 20 December, that it be continued in 2001. Development is proposed in four phases: definition in 2000, development and validation by 2005 and deployment by 2007, with operation and use thereafter. The Commission does however wish the project to be accompanied by a number of conditions that it sees as indispensable to the success of GALILEO. 'Galileo will provide Europe with a safe and powerful tool for developing new services: positioning in transport, telemedicine, tagging of prisoners in law enforcement, or application of fertiliser in farming. The policy decisions to be taken by the Transport Council on 20 December next are vital if these prospects are to become reality', said Loyola de Palacio, Vice President of the Commission and responsible for energy and transport. The changes that the European Commission would like to see made to GALILEO are as follows: - Deployment of the EU's own satellite constellation. 'This is a prerequisite for the EU's independence in the field of satellite navigation', says the Commission. It would be made up of 30 satellites in orbit around the Earth at an altitude of some 23,000 kilometres - Guarantee of sufficient financing by 2007. Cost benefit studies show GALILEO to be profitable and sufficiently attractive for public financing in the form of subsidies not to be needed after 2007. Financing based on public subsidies of 1.1 billion euro will however be indispensable for the development and validation phase (2001-2005). This has already been scheduled, with 50 per cent each from the budgets of the Community and the ESA. No additional public funding will be sought. Investment from the private sector amounting to 1.5 billion euro will be needed for the deployment phase (2006-2007). Provision of an adequate legal and financial framework. This includes the creation of a provisional, coordinated management structure involving the Commission and the ESA and of a single, definitive management structure with an investment budget combining all the funds earmarked for the project.