| 28.Dezember 2005
GIOVE-A Start
The first stage of the Galileo program was agreed upon officially on May
26, 2003 by the European Union and the European Space Agency (ESA). But
system studies were conducted well before. In 1999 the 4 different concepts
(from France, Germany, Italy and The United Kingdom) for Galileo were
compared and reduced to one concept by a joint team of engineers from
all four countries. The system is intended primarily for civilian use,
unlike the US system, which is run by and primarily for the US military.
The US reserves the right to limit the signal strength or accuracy of
the GPS systems, or to shut down public GPS access completely, so that
non-military users cannot use it in time of conflict. The precision of
the signal available to non-military users was limited before 2000 (a
process known as selective availability). The European system will not
(in theory) be subject to shutdown for military purposes, will provide
a significant improvement to the signal available from GPS, and will,
upon completion, be available at its full precision to all users, both
civil and military.
The European Commission had some difficulty trying to secure funding for
the next stage of the Galileo project. European states were wary of investing
the necessary funds at a time of economic difficulty, when national budgets
were being threatened across Europe. Following the September 11, 2001
Terrorist Attack, the United States Government wrote to the European Union
opposing the project, arguing that it would end the ability of the US
to shut down GPS in times of military operations. On January 17, 2002
a spokesman for the project sombrely stated that "Galileo is almost
dead" as a result of US pressure.
A few months later, however, the situation changed dramatically. Partially
in reaction to the pressure exerted by the US Government, European Union
member states decided it was important to have their own independent satellite-based
positioning and timing infrastructure. All European Union member states
became strongly in favour of the Galileo system in late 2002 and, as a
result, the project actually became over-funded, which posed a completely
new set of problems for the ESA, as a way had to be found to convince
the Member States to reduce the funding.
On March 20, 2003, the United States and three other countries began military
operations in Iraq, further motivating the EU to develop a navigation
system independent of US control.
The European Union and European Space Agency then agreed in March 2002
to fund the project, pending a review in 2003 (which was finalised on
May 26, 2003). The starting cost for the period ending in 2005 is estimated
at EUR 1.1 billion. The required satellites—the planned number is
30—will be launched throughout the period 2006–2010 and the
system will be up and running and under civilian control from 2010. The
final cost is estimated at EUR 3 billion, including the infrastructure
on Earth, which is to be constructed in the years 2006 and 2007. At least
two thirds of the cost will be invested by private companies and investors,
the remaining costs are divided between the European Space Agency and
the European Union. An encrypted higher bandwidth Commercial Service with
improved accuracy will be available at an extra cost, while the base Open
Service will be freely available to anyone with Galileo compatible receiver.
The European Union has agreed to switch to a range of frequencies known
as Binary Offset Carrier 1.1 in June 2004, which will allow both European
and American forces to block each other's signals in the battlefield without
disabling the entire system.
International involvement
In September 2003, China joined the Galileo project. China will invest
€ 230 million (USD 296 million, GBP 160 million) in the project over
the next few years (see external link, below).
In July 2004, Israel signed an agreement with the EU to become a partner
in the Galileo project[1].
On 3 June 2005 the EU and Ukraine initialled an agreement for Ukraine
to join the project, as noted in a press release[2].
On September 7, 2005, India signed an agreement to take part in the project
and to establish a regional augmentation system based on EGNOS.
As of November 2005, Morocco and Saudi Arabia have also joined the program.
There is speculation that other countries might join the Galileo project,
including Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia,
Mexico, Norway, Pakistan, Russia and South Korea[3].
Political implications of Galileo project
As well as being an impressive technological achievement and a hugely
practical tool, Galileo will be a political statement of European independence
from the United States and its GPS system. A strong motivator for an independent
system is that, though GPS is now widely used worldwide for civilian applications,
it is a military system, which as recently as 2000 had selective availability
that may be enabled in particular areas of coverage during times of war.
Galileo's proponents argue that civil infrastructure, including aeroplane
navigation and landing, should not rely solely upon GPS.
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