Commission to integrate EGNOS and Galileo programmes
The European Commission has announced that it has placed the EGNOS programme under the supervision of the Galileo Joint Undertaking. The move is intended to integrate the programmes both administratively and technically in order to ensure optimum complementarity between the two systems. Commission Vice-President Loyola de Palacio expanded on the reasons behind the decision: 'This [ENGOS] system, which will improve the service offered by the GPS satellites, will facilitate market penetration by Galileo thanks to the rapid development of a large number of satellite navigation applications, in particular in transport, agriculture, fisheries and telecommunications.' EGNOS, or the European geostationary navigation overlay service, is designed to complement the GPS system, and will make it possible to provide new services similar to those that will be offered by Galileo, such as improved accuracy, reliability, and reception. EGNOS is composed of navigation payloads installed in geostationary satellites which are linked to a ground network of 34 positioning stations, and four control centres. EGNOS will contribute significantly to the success of Galileo by acting as a precursor to it. It will greatly increase the number of satellite positioning applications available on the market and should in turn create more demand for such services. The Commission foresees no problems in integrating the two programmes, and states that on an institutional level, it will be the best way of ensuring complementarity of the two systems. An ESA spokesperson told CORDIS News that he expected the transition to go 'very smoothly'.