Galileo: Commercial Hopes Unrealistic

GIM Interviews Owen M. Goodman, Chief Operating Officer, Fugro N.V.

It is likely to be 2012 before the Galileo system itself is fully operational on a stand-alone basis, says this month’s interviewee Owen Goodman, and Galileo will never be a commercially viable service as long as GPS and Glonass are free. Given current plans, Galileo is heading inevitably towards a funding crisis. National security and defence agencies could make a substantial financial contribution, but this at the expense of Galileo’s status as a civilian system. The EU should leave the fulfilment of specialist civilian needs to commercial GNSS augmentation service providers and the makers of ‘RTK-type’ GNSS equipment, so that... (read more)

2006-02-23 12:00:00

Independent Galileo Indispensable: Experts

Experts attending the INTERGEO Round Table in Karlsruhe, Germany, made it infinitely clear that the European satellite programme Galileo is essential. The unanimous conclusion was that Europe must be independent of other referencing systems such as America's GPS and Russia's GLONASS if it is to safeguard its future as a hub for research and business. The patron of INTERGEO, DVW e.V. - the German Society for Geodesy, Geoinformation and Land Management and the event's organizer HINTE GmbH invited a number of high-profile speakers to the offices of HINTE GmbH to discuss "Unlimited Navigation - The Way Ahead?" Joining the debate... (read more)

2011-06-20 03:49:12

Ready for Galileo

Multi-frequency, High-precision GNSS Receiver for Asphalt Fleet Machines

The full feature is online at http://member.gim-international.com/. Please subscribe for free using the Subscribe button in the left hand column. Any sub-optimal operation within the asphalt construction chain will lead to a reduction in road quality, inevitably resulting in a shorter lifetime and hence higher costs. While satellite navigation is sometimes used for asphalt truck fleet management, it has so far not found any applications among compactors and pavers. The European GNSS Agency (GSA) has funded the research and development project, ‘Advanced Galileo navigation system for asphalt fleet machines’ (ASPHALT)1, with the ultimate objective of enabling better quality and more... (read more)

2012-04-17 04:16:30

India May Quit Galileo

According to subcontinent press sources including the Times of India, India’s participation in the Galileo project has run into the hard-ground realities of security concerns. India apparently fears that sharing of sensitive data may not be adequately firewalled from individuals and other nations participating in the enterprise. While Indian military and civilian facilities are currently open to surveillance by US and other satellites used for military purposes the Galileo project poses the problem of uncertainty over data users. India signed up to the thirty-satellite landmark space navigation project in September last year. The details of Indian participation were to be... (read more)

2006-10-18 12:00:00

Procurement Galileo System

The European Commission - with the support of ESA - has launched the procurement of Galileo, a global navigation system composed of 30 dedicated navigation satellites and a ground infrastructure with the main control centres in Europe and a network of dedicated stations deployed around the world. The overall programme objective for Galileo is the deployment, by 2013, of a European navigation system providing five main services, namely the Open Service, the Safety of Life Service, the Commercial Service, the Public Regulated Service, and the Search and Rescue Service. Political decisions made by the European Parliament and the Council last... (read more)

2008-07-02 12:17:44

Galileo Ground Network Laid

As Europe prepares for October 2011 launch of the first Galileo satellites, a worldwide ground network is being put in place. Contracts signed in June 2011 cover satellite control and the systems needed to generate Galileo services. Europe's satellite navigation system will begin to take shape in space later this year, when the first two Galileo In-Orbit Validation satellites are launched by the first Soyuz flown from French Guiana. Out of six Work Packages for Europe's satnav system to reach full operations, four are already in place. The remaining two were signed during the Paris Air & Space Show... (read more)

2011-07-01 11:59:44

Galileo Contract for NovAtel

The Canadian Space Agency (CSA) has awarded NovAtel (Canada) a CDN$ 1.6 million (US$ 1.34 million) Space Technology Development Program (STDP) contract to extend an initial proof-of-concept prototype Galileo receiver. Galileo is the European Union GNSS system, expected to be fully operable by 2008 with up to thirty satellites. Funding for this contract will be split 60/40 respectively between the CSA and NovAtel. Under the terms of the contract NovAtel will develop L1/E5A engineering receivers and L1/E5A transmitters for CSA evaluation and possible monitoring of prototype Galileo satellites. The new receiver will be integrated into a modified version of NovAtel's... (read more)

2005-03-16 12:00:00

First Galileo Satellite Repositioned

Surrey Satellite Technology (SSTL), UK, has completed the repositioning of the first Galileo test satellite, GIOVE-A, to a higher orbit to make way for the operational satellites of Europe's satellite navigation constellation. From the GIOVE-A operational headquarters, the operating team executed a series of precisely planned manoeuvres during July and August that have repositioned the satellite 113km above the orbit that the 27 operational Galileo navigation satellites will occupy. Since its launch in December 2005, GIOVE-A has achieved all of its mission objectives and remains in excellent condition well beyond its design life of two years. The test... (read more)

2009-10-02 11:33:50

Galileo: Commercial Hopes Unrealistic

GIM Interviews Owen M. Goodman, Chief Operating Officer, Fugro N.V.

It is likely to be 2012 before the Galileo system itself is fully operational on a stand-alone basis, says this month’s interviewee Owen Goodman, and Galileo will never be a commercially viable service as long as GPS and Glonass are free. Given current plans, Galileo is heading inevitably towards a funding crisis. National security and defence agencies could make a substantial financial contribution, but this at the expense of Galileo’s status as a civilian system. The EU should leave the fulfilment of specialist civilian needs to commercial GNSS augmentation service providers and the makers of ‘RTK-type’ GNSS equipment, so that... (read more)

2006-02-23 12:00:00

Optimistic Outlook for Galileo

This month we bring you an extended interview with engineer Pedro Pedreira, executive director of the European Global Navigation Satellite System Supervisory Authority (GSA)since July 2005, the body charged with managing the development phase of the much-troubled European Satellite navigation system Galileo. Our wide-ranging discussion with Pedreira appears on these pages accompanied by detailed background information (boxed text). Despite the spiralling costs of Galileo, its anticipated economic benefits, in terms of revenue, employment and expanding markets, are many. Galileo is being funded by the EU taxpayer, so it is important that these benefits be realised. Please introduce yourself and tell... (read more)

2009-05-20 12:00:00