NEWSBRIEFS – Galileo update

EU, Morocco seal deal on Galileo

The European Union (EU) and Morocco signed an agreement in Brussels for cooperation on the European satellite radio navigation program Galileo. The two sides will join hands in a wide range of activities, including scientific research and training, industrial cooperation, trade and market development, standards, certification and regulatory measures. Morocco is the seventh international partner of the EU on the Galileo global positioning system. The 25- nation bloc has signed cooperation agreements with the United States, China, Israel, Ukraine, India and South Korea. http://english.people.com.cn

Czechs seek Galileo project

The Czech Republic is fighting hard to host Europe’s ambitious satellite navigation program Galileo – a project that would relieve the continent’s dependence on the U.S. Global Positioning System – but it faces stiff competition from nearly half of the European Union. The Czech Republic and 10 other countries – including Germany, France and Britain – have applied to oversee the program dubbed the Galileo Supervisory Authority (GSA). Winning the bid has become a prestigious matter for many countries, if for no other reason than it will serve up to 400 million people. But the project will also bring hundreds of highly skilled and high-paying jobs when it is launched in 2008.www.praguepost.com

NovAtel Inc. accepted as full member of Galileo services

One year ago, GIOVE-A began transmitting Galileo navigation signals.This satellite is the fifi rst flight element in ESA’s in-orbit validation programme for Galileo. This signal transmission has secured the use of the frequencies allocated to the Galileo system by the International Telecommunication Unit (ITU), achieving the primary mission for which the satellite was constructed. The receivers that have been developed for Galileo were able to receive the first signals at ESA sites at Redu (Belgium) and Noordwijk (Netherlands), at the Chilbolton Observatory (UK) and at the Guildford (UK) mission control centre of Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd, the prime contractor for GIOVE-A. Information on the GIOVE mission is now accessible at www.giove.esa.int. This new web site provides general information to the public and measurement data and core products to registered external users who are collaborating with ESA on the mission experiments. www.innovations-report.de

Commission starts satellite navigation discussion with green paper

The European Commission has published a Green Paper on satellite navigation applications that poses questions on which applications should be developed, and what the public sector’s role should be. The Green Papers outlines a number of potential applications, and then asks stakeholders to indicate their area of interest and then give their opinion on the most important related issues. These include: measures to accelerate market introduction, the legal and regulatory framework; the role of the pubic authorities; market perspective; sensitivity to costs; certification; and integration with communications systems. http://cordis.europa.eu

China to use Galileo satellite navigation system

The European Union’s Galileo satellite navigation system is expected to be operational in China in 2008. The 30- satellite system, with a navigational fix accurate to within one meter, will provide safe, reliable and accurate navigational information for Chinese users in fields of civil aviation, railway, waterway and road transportation, according to a Sino- EU technology cooperation symposium in Nanjing, capital of east China’s Jiangsu Province. http://news.xinhuanet.com