Going-It-Alone With Galileo – Confirmed
- May 17th, 2007
- Posted by EUEditor
The European Commission has confirmed that setting up the Galileo satellite navigation system will be paid for from public funds, following break-down of the private-public partnership for the project.
The EU’s Transport Vice President, Jacques Barrot, said in Brussels (16.5.07) the private consortium from the European space industry had been unwilling to accept a share of risk for construction of the system, but would participate later with applications, such as providing navigation, search or timing services.
The European Commission would have to find EU 2.4-billion more (A$ 3.94-billion; dcerates.com) over four years, for construction, and the system then would be controlled by the EC itself and European Space Agency.
He said the annual additional outlay should be put in the context of EU budgets of EU 126-billion p.a. (A$126-billion), and was “equivalent to building 400 kilometres of motorway”.
The proposal would be referred to national Transport ministers meeting as the European Transport Council next month.
The Commissioner said the civilian controlled system using 30 satellites, and rivalling the American GPS service, would be viable because it would be “better”, offering higher technical quality, e.g. more detailed imaging.
“Nobody has been saying we should give up on Galileo; that’s not what anybody wants”, he said.
The project would be kept to its set-up deadline of 2012, to ensure the European scheme “did not fall further behind”
Reference: EUAustralia Online 9.1.206, 11.5.07