EC: Europe Can’t Afford To Ignore Satellite Apps

The European Commission is continuing to beat the drum around its Galileo competitor to GPS, which it believes will be well placed to cash in on the €100 billion market for satellite services.

The EC announced this week that it has officially adopted a Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) Application Plan, which outlines how the commission intends to reap benefits from the hundreds of millions invested in the Galileo project. The EC is very keen that European businesses switch their allegiance from the US military GPS system to Galileo when it is eventually up and running.

“The Commission believes that European industry should reap maximum benefit from the investment made in the programmes,” the EC said in a statement. “Coordinated action by the European Commission among Member States will draw as much attention as possible to the necessity of investment in research, ensure the widest possible dissemination of vital information and optimise awareness raising activities.”

Advanced Driver Assistance Systems

The EC said it is also important to avoid any conflicts and duplication of effort when it comes to the private sector adopting satellite services from Galileo. In particular the action plan adopted this week points to Galileo being used for Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) and other intelligent transport systems. It also refers to the importance of creating Galileo-enabled chips and handsets, and creating an Application Forum where developers and other stakeholders can exchange information.

“Europe simply cannot afford to ignore the economic benefits of taking full advantage of this market – the alternative is not an option,” said Antonio Tajani, European Commission vice-President in charge of Industry and Entrepreneurship. “Action must be taken to ensure Europe’s SMEs become aware of the extensive business opportunities and the European citizens about the vast variety of possible applications… Like the Internet, satellite applications will play a part in all our daily lives.”

Although Galileo is still under development, some of the technology is operational in the form of European Geostationary Navigation Overlay System (EGNOS), the European satellite-based augmentation system, which the EC said is paving the way for the full satellite service. The EC said that EGNOS is already more than ten times more precise than GPS and the technology has commercial opportunities for universities and industry.

No Control Over GPS

The European Space Agency (ESA) says it has been working to develop Galileo since the 1990s as an alternative to the US GPS and Russian GLONASS system, which European authorities claim they have no control over. “Satellite positioning has already become the standard way of navigating. If the signals were switched off tomorrow, many ship and aircraft crews would find it inconvenient and difficult to revert to traditional navigation methods,” the ESA states.

According to the EC, the development of the Galileo network will consist of two phases. The first in-orbit validation phase, set for November this year, will involve testing four satellites and the related ground systems. The full launch phase – or full operational capability (FOC) phase – will see the launch of 14 satellites initially, working up to 30 satellites eventually when the system is completed, the EC said.

In January, Surrey-based satellite manufacturer SSTL announced that it had been granted one of the initial contracts to build the long-awaited European Galileo satellite network.