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GALILEO : EU and the Republic of Korea seal their agreement

Following exchanges that lasted for six months, negotiations on the Republic of Korea’s participation in Europe’s satellite radionavigation programme reached approval today.

Following exchanges that lasted for six months, negotiations on the Republic of Korea’s participation in Europe’s satellite radionavigation programme reached approval today. The agreement which paves the way for the country’s active participation in the programme was initialled in Brussels by Heinz Hilbrecht, Director, representing the European Commission, and by Counsellor Choi Jong Hyun, representing the Republic of Korea. Welcoming the outcome of the negotiations, Vice-President Jacques Barrot in charge of transport declared : “After the successful launch of the first GALILEO GIOVE-A satellite, this new agreement underlines, once again, the ever growing worldwide interest for the programme”.

The agreement initialled today provides for co-operative activities in the areas of scientific research and training, industrial cooperation, trade and market development, standards, certification and regulatory measures, regional and local augmentations, etc. The Republic of Korea, the fourth economical power in Asia, is a country mastering space technology and its applications. It is a producer and user of consumer electronic goods and systems for which satellite navigation brings effective competitive advantages since several years. The Republic of Korea is currently an active user of satellite navigation services in various sectors including transport, fleet management, science and geodesy.

The agreement initialled with the Republic of Korea, the first in 2006, confirms the ambition of the European Union to further stimulate international cooperation. The ever growing interest of third countries to participate in the GALILEO programme represents a big boost for the GNSS market, which is potentially considerable : 3 billion receivers and revenues of some €275 billion per year by 2020 worldwide, and the creation of more than 150.000 high qualified jobs in Europe alone.

Background

GALILEO is Europe’s satellite radio navigation programme. It was launched on the initiative of the European Commission and developed jointly with the European Space Agency (ESA). It will prepare for the development of a new generation of universal services in areas such as transport, telecommunications, agriculture and fisheries. To date this technology, which promises to be highly profitable, is only available through the United States’ GPS system and Russia’s GLONASS system, both of which are financed and controlled by military authorities. The GALILEO programme will be administered and controlled by civilian authorities and offers a guarantee of quality and continuity which is essential for many applications. It is complementary with current systems and will increase the reliability and availability of navigation and positioning services worldwide.

What of the 2008-2010 implementation of Galileo ?

On June 27th European citizens learned about the launching of the Galileo programme, confied to a group of European industrials. For Jacques Barrot, Vice-President and Transport Commissioner of the European Commission, this is less about competing with the United States and more about concrete applications in daily life such as road security, urban transport organisation, energy supply, food supply tracing and the realisation of large works. « With Galileo, that I would dare qualify as the first true « world public service », he highlighted, Europe does not hesitate to show the way. » There are currently two systems of satellite based radionavigation in the world : the American GPS and the Russian GLONASS which barely passes the borders of the Russian Federation. Galileo is the first true civil radionavigation system and the first project of the Union using a public-private partnership. « The Commission, indicated Jacques Barrot, encourages hybrid financing through public-private partnerships. With Galileo, European institutions applied to themselves for the first time this policy, since the private sector is called upon to finance and manage within a concession framework, the phases of construction and exploitation of the infrastructure. »

Better management of public funds

The European Union, represented by Galileo JU, the public enterprise created by the European Commission and the European Space Agency, chose, June 27th, the common offer presented by the two initial candidate consortiums that regroup EADS, Thales, Alcatel, Finmeccanica, Immarsat, Aena and Hispasat. This approach, according to the European Commission, allows for better management of public funds and assures a greater long-term profitability. Pooling offers allows one to reduce public financing throughout the duration of the concession, until 2026, and accelerate the timetable. The system, in fact, will become fully operational in 2010. Commercial receipts will also be increased by 20% due to the combination of the two consortia’s know-how : on the one hand iNavasat composed of EADS, Thales, Immarsat and on the other, Alcatel, Finmeccanica, Aena and Hispasat. These two consortia acquired very significant experience in the domains of telecommunications and transport. There is still, however, the negociation of commercial conditions of Galileo’s exploitation - which should enter into service in 2008 with thirty satellites.

A network of 30 satellites

For Alexandre de Junniac, General Director of Aero-Systems with Thales, this European decision constitutes a large step forward for technological Europe : « The whole European space industry can participate in the most important programme ever launched in Europe. I don’t know any equivalent programme supported by Europe. In comparison, Airbus is the result of cooperation between countries. » The most difficult decisions, such as the repartition of the roles of different industrial groups, begin at the end of July. A conclusion could arrive before the end of the year. The construction, for 2008, of about thirty satellites will mobilise several thousand European employees. Thanks to this constellation of thirty satellites placed about 23,600 km altitude and the network of reception stations built throughout the planet, a mobile or fixed-place user equipped with a Galileo receptor can localise himself at any point on the globe. The precision of the European system is superior by about 15 or 20 meters in comparison to GPS. This is an essential point for detecting emergency calls. Galileo stations implanted on the edges of volcanoes or a fault-line could allow, for example, the measurement of movements to a few milimeters. One has seen the stakes of seismic monitoring for heavily populated regions. Air transports as well as navigation in port zones will gain in reliability also thanks to Galileo.