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Galileo-Navigation NEWS

28.12.2005

Galileo will more than double GPS coverage, providing satellite navigation for people from motorists to sailors to mapmakers. In particular, Galileo is expected to improve coverage in high-latitude areas such as northern Europe.

In orbit, the satellite will test atomic clocks and navigation signals, secure Galileo's frequencies in space and allow scientists to monitor how radiation affects the craft.

Galileo is under civilian control. The European Space Agency says it can guarantee operation at all times, except in cases of the "direst emergency." It also says users would be notified of any potential satellite problems within seconds.

A second satellite named "Giove B" is scheduled to be placed in orbit this spring. Two more satellites will then be launched in 2008 to complete the testing phase, which requires at least four satellites in orbit to guarantee an exact position and time anywhere on earth.

Six non-EU nations – China, India, Israel, Morocco, Saudi Arabia and Ukraine – have joined the program set up by the European Commission and European Space Agency, and discussions are underway with other countries to take part.

The EU is to allocate an initial $1.2 billion from its 2007-2013 budget to fund deployment and commercial operations of the satellite system. The private sector will contribute two-thirds of the funds for the project, which is expected to create more than 150,000 jobs in Europe alone.

Last year, the EU and United States struck a deal to make Galileo compatible with the U.S. GPS system, ending a trans-Atlantic feud over the issue.

The Pentagon had initially criticized Galileo as unnecessary and a potential security threat during wartime, saying its signals could interfere with the next-generation GPS signals intended for use by the U.S. military.

The Galileo satellite, named "Giove A," took off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan aboard a Soyuz rocket. Journalists monitored the liftoff through a linkup at the European Space Agency headquarters in Paris.

After the launch amid clear skies, the satellite was released into orbit and began transmitting signals, scientists said.

The $4 billion Galileo project will eventually use about 30 satellites and is expected to more than double GPS coverage, providing satellite navigation for everyone from motorists to sailors to mapmakers. Because Galileo is under civilian control, the ESA also says it can guarantee operation at almost all times, unlike the American system.

Last year, President Bush ordered plans for temporarily disabling GPS satellites during national crises to prevent terrorists from using the navigational technology.

"Galileo is made in Europe by Europeans," ESA spokesman Franco Bonacina said. "If the Americans want to scramble GPS, they can do it whenever they want."

Galileo will also be more exact than GPS, with precision of about three feet, compared to about 16 feet with GPS technology, ESA spokesman Franco Bonacina said. With Galileo, for example, rescue services will be able to tell ambulance drivers which lane to use on the highway, he said.

The satellite launch was originally scheduled for Monday but was delayed because of a technical problem in the ground station network. While in orbit, Giove A will test atomic clocks and navigation signals, secure Galileo's frequencies in space and allow scientists to monitor how radiation affects the craft.

A second satellite named "Giove B" is scheduled to be placed in orbit this spring. Two more satellites will then be launched in 2008 to complete the testing phase, which requires at least four satellites in orbit to guarantee an exact position and time anywhere on earth.
Consumers are expected to be able to buy Galileo receivers in 2008, and they will be able to switch back and forth between GPS and Galileo, similar to how people can change between cell phone networks now, Bonacina said. The Galileo system should be fully functional by 2010.

Three non-EU nations China, Israel and Ukraine have also signed on to the program set up by the European Commission and the ESA. Discussions are also under way with India, Morocco, South Korea, Norway and Argentina, the EU says.

The EU is to allocate an initial $1.2 billion from its 2007-2013 budget to fund deployment and commercial operations of the satellite system. The private sector will contribute two-thirds of the funds for the project, which is expected to create more than 150,000 jobs in Europe alone.

EU Transport Commissioner Jacques Barrot praised the program for benefiting both companies and ordinary citizens.

"Radionavigation based on Galileo will be a feature of everyday life, helping to avoid traffic jams and tracking dangerous cargos, for example," he said.

Last year, the EU and United States struck a deal to make Galileo compatible with the U.S. GPS system, ending a trans-Atlantic feud over the issue.

The Pentagon had initially criticized Galileo as unnecessary and a potential security threat during wartime, saying its signals could interfere with the next-generation GPS signals intended for use by the U.S. military.

On 10 January, payload commissioning started from the SSTL Mission Control Centre with the objective of verifying that all the units in the navigation payload were functioning properly.

GIOVE-A deploys its solar arrays
On 12 January, the first Galileo navigation signals were transmitted by GIOVE-A. These were received and analysed by the Galileo receivers using the 25-metre diameter dish of the Chilbolton Observatory Facilities for Atmospheric and Radio Research (UK) and the ESA Station in Redu (Belgium). The various Galileo signal modes will now be generated sequentially using the various GIOVE-A payload chains. Payload commissioning activities are planned to be completed by mid-February.

Additional measurement campaigns will then be carried out to assess the medium earth orbit radiation environment, characterise the performance of the on-board clocks and perform signal-in-space experimentation.

Background information

GIOVE-A is the first element of the Galileo In-Orbit Validation phase. The pilot satellite marks the very first step towards full operability of Europe’s new global navigation satellite system, a partnership project involving the European Space Agency and the European Commission.

GIOVE-A’s mission is to secure use of the frequencies allocated by the International Telecommunications Union for the Galileo system, demonstrate critical technologies for the navigation payloads of future operational Galileo satellites, characterise the radiation environment of the orbits planned for the Galileo constellation and test the receivers on the ground.

Formerly known as GSTB-V2/A, the GIOVE A satellite is carrying two redundant, small-size rubidium atomic clocks built by Temex Neuchatel Time (Switzerland), each with a stability of 10 nanoseconds per day, the navigation L-band antenna built by Alcatel Alenia Space (Italy), and two signal generation units built by Alcatel Alenia Space (Italy) and SSTL (UK) respectively. This mission will be followed by that of the second satellite, GIOVE-B, which is to be built by Galileo Industries (Germany) in 2006.

Galileo will be Europe’s very own global navigation satellite system, providing a highly accurate and guaranteed positioning service under civilian control. It will be inter-operable with the two other systems: the US Global Positioning System and Russia’s Global Navigation Satellite. Galileo will deliver real-time positioning services with unrivaled accuracy and integrity.

Berlin - A 1-billion-euro (1.2 billion dollar) contract was signed Thursday in Berlin for the second phase of the Galileo satellite navigation system, the European civilian rival to the United States' existing military-run GPS system.

The accord was between the European Space Agency (ESA) and the Galileo Industries consortium of companies. It provides for the development and testing of a mini-version of the system with just four satellites. This would take till 2010 to complete.

The other 26 satellites would come in a third phase. The entire project is expected to cost 3.8 billion euros (4.6 billion dollars) to launch.

GPS is already familiar in car navigation systems, which guide many of the world's motorists along unfamiliar roads. In Germany it is used to track and charge trucks using 12,000 kilometres of highways.

The Galileo phase now starting is being funded by ESA and the European Union. Thursday's ceremony took place in Berlin because Germany, at 500 million euros, is the biggest contributor. The final phase will require commercial investment.

The project nearly failed to get off the ground, with Washington calling it redundant and European partners reluctant to fund it, though most agreed they did not want to stay behold to the United States.

In the end, China, Israel and three other non-E.U. nations agreed to join.

The first of the network of satellites is already in the sky. Code-named GIOVE-A, it was launched on December 28 by a Russian rocket and its first 'Galileo' signal was picked up on January 12.

The first four satellites, to be all aloft by 2008, are the minimum required to guarantee precision positioning over selected 'show-case' sites.

Initial work costing 150 million euros was authorized one year ago. Space launch contracts have not been signed yet.

Proponents say Galileo will be more precise and more reliable than GPS (Global Positioning System), allowing locations to be described down to just a few centimetres. GPS was originally set up as a military project, while Galileo is purely civilian from the start.

Galileo will be used to track containers, trucks, planes and ships and to help motorists find their way. It is estimated that 3.6 billion receivers will be in use round the world by 2020, with most parts of the world having at least three satellites overhead.

Costa Rica astronaut Franklin Chang lauds China space program 01.02.2006
Costa Rican astronaut Franklin Chang lauded China's achievements in space as "extraordinary" during an interview on Wednesday.

"China has achieved some extraordinary things in its space program," said Chang, NASA's first astronaut of Chinese descent. He added that it was very important for China to be included in the world's space community.

"I think that this augurs well for the future collaboration of all the world's nations in space," he said, adding that it made him feel proud of his Chinese roots.

Chang, who was born on April 5, 1950 in San Jose, was NASA's first astronaut of Chinese descent and the third non-U.S. citizen to go into space. Having completed seven space missions between 1986 and 2002, he is also known for being among the people who have spent the most time in space and have participated the most missions in the world.

The successful flight and return of Shenzhou VI spacecraft last October carrying two Chinese astronauts on a five-day mission represented a landmark for China in its development of manned space technology.

The mission followed the country's first successful manned space flight in October 2003, in which astronaut Yang Liwei completed a 21-hour trip. This made China the third country in the world to send a human being into space after Russia and the United States.

China plans to set up a man-tended space station for the peaceful use of space resources in the coming decades. It is also the first country outside Europe to contribute to Project Galileo -- a 240-million-U.S.-dollar project to develop new satellite navigation systems.

GPS versus GALILEO 02.02.2006
For most of us, GPS has revolutionized the navigation world in a way that few could have predicted. The ability for the average civilian to buy a relatively cheap, handheld, battery operated GPS and have the ability to interface with satellites around the world, providing the user with his or her location and altitude has been a god send. The applications of this technology have been equally impressive. In fact most of us have become so reliant on the technology that we would have serious difficulty operating in a world without GPS navigation. Even though GPS continues to provide an invaluable infrastructure for global navigation, there is an evolution of sorts taking place in the world of GPS navigation.
Europe has delved into the world of GPS navigation that had so far been the domain of the United States. Galileo is the project name for the European satellite navigation system that unlike the United States’ program, is designed specifically for commercial and civilian use. Galileo relies on a network of 30 satellites and ground stations provide the means for satellite radio navigation. The Galileo system is aimed at complementing the current GPS system and enabling a higher degree of navigational accuracy for the general population. Its creators claim that Galileo will enhance accuracy to within one meter, opening the door to a raft of new possibilities for GPS says http://www.buyingagps.com . The new system will require a new receiver although the Europeans say that the device will be small and cheap as it is squarely aimed at the consumer market.

Although the technology is clearly just a variant of an existing model, the future looks promising for Galileo. Already there is talk of applications for the blind, law-enforcement, customs services, the justice system, transport and logistics and also search and rescue. If nothing else this technology may just make it that bit easier for die hard fishermen who have been such stalwarts of GPS!