»Pioneering Galileo Satellite Begins Third Year In Orbit
~ the next phase in Galileo has been confirmed with a financing package of 3.4 billion € by the European Union
~ this requires a constellation of 30 satellites and an associated worldwide network of ground stations to be deployed by 2013

»SSTL (UK)
~ Surrey Satellite Technology Limited (SSTL) is a world leader in the design, manufacture and operation of high performance small satellites

»OHB and SSTL ready to meet the challenge
~ now that Galileo is to be publicly funded, this opportunity to re-introduce competition has arisen
~ OHB brings experience from prime contractorship of the German SAR-Lupe constellation of five military radar reconnaissance satellites
~ SSTL brings experience gained through the successful GIOVE-A mission, the only Galileo satellite to be launched so far
~ lowering the cost of Galileo is one of several benefits that the collaboration can bring
~ the team has a proven ability to rapidly deploy space systems which will also help to quicken the pace of the programme

»GALILEO by EU
~ GLILEO is a joint initiative of the European Commission and the European Space Agency (ESA)

»Galileo by ESA
~
»CORDIS: Call for Proposals
~ Rockwell Collins UK Limited i.e. U.S. companies in Europe participate in Galileo development !

»Control Centre For Europe's Galileo Satellite Navigation System Established

»South Korea and EU Sign Galileo Satellite Cooperation Agreement


»ESA

»EU And South Korea To Sign Cooperation Accord On Galileo Project
~ project represents an investment of 3.8 billion euros (4.8 billion dollars), which has prompted EU to seek financial partners

»EU and Israel Reach GALILEO agreement

»EU and China Collaborate on Galileo Navigation Satellite Project
~ China prepared to participate at around the same level as one of Europe's major national contributors
~ France, Germany, Britain and Italy -- which would mean an investment of at least $200 million in the program

Galileo: what's in it for Britain?
~ there is a PRS module reserved for use by emergency services and police
~ it would be this module that defence community would used if a consensus could be reached among European participants
~ a British company, LogicaCMG has designed facility that controls who has access
~ LogicaCMG has invested in to ensure mobile phones are ready
~ there was opportunity for discounts on car insurance (valid with UAVs) since it could be based on actual usage
~ as well as clear benefit of being charged according to use – opportunity to tax progressively rather than regressively

»LogicaCMG

»QinetiQ secures key role in ESA's Galileo programme
~ QinetiQ and AgustaWestland have also signed a MoU covering four main areas:
~ research and development; release to service activities; technology insertion; and through life support

EADS about Galileo

»India to join EU’s Galileo satellite program
~ India would become the third non-EU country to sign on to the project, after Israel and China
~ Talks are continuing with a number of other countries, including Russia, Ukraine, Morocco, Brazil, Mexico, South Korea, Canada, and Australia
~ EU’s Galileo program, which will have a web of 30 satellites and will reduce European reliance on the US Global Positioning System (GPS),
~ will be fully operational in 2008 at the latest, with signal transmissions beginning as early as this year
~ “GALILEO aims to ensure European economies’ independence from US and Russian systems,
~ which could deny access to civil users at any time, and to enhance safety and reliability, according to European Commission website
~ European consortium INavSat, which is building Galileo,
~ is made up of German, French, British, Italian, and Spanish companies, as well as contractors from smaller European countries
~ consortium’s main companies include European space giant EADS, France’s Thales, and Britain’s Inmarsat
~ Galileo is a civilian application that will remain under civilian control,
~ but will be used to enhance EU’s military capabilities and to enhance European independence in commercial and scientific spheres
~ Galileo will serve transport networks, such as airlines and rail and shipping companies, as well as search and rescue teams and other emergency services
~ US and Russian systems are militarily financed and controlled
~ In a sign of high confidence in Galileo technology, EU member states have been vying to carry main financial burden of satellite system
~ in order to ensure that production is based in their country
~ Analysts estimate that project will generate up to 100’000 new jobs across EU
~ Currently, Germany is the forerunner, and Galileo headquarters is likely to be situated in Ottobrunn, just outside of Munich in Bavaria
~ US$3.1 billion Galileo project will be financed by EU common budget and by member states
~ 25-nation EU and other nations aim to provide one-third of Galileo's funding, while private sector will finance remaining two-thirds
~ EU says Galileo will complement Washington’s GPS and Moscow’s GLONASS system, but US has traditionally viewed project as a rival
~ US has tried to discourage EU from developing Galileo,
~ arguing that it was unnecessary and might complicate matters in space if two systems proved to be incompatible
~ Last year, Galileo project won a small victory when EU and US officials agreed on radio frequencies
~ that would allow European system to work alongside GPS
~ Washington had feared that Galileo might interfere with military signals from US satellites

»Inmarsat
~ Inmarsat (LSE:ISAT) announced that an agreement has been reached confirming Inmarsat as the lead company
~ overseeing system operations of Galileo
~ Galileo will be implemented through a Public Private Partnership by a consortium led by
~ many of Europe's leading satellite operators and aerospace companies

»Cracking Secret Codes Of European Galileo Satellite Network
~ Members of Cornell's Global Positioning System Laboratory have cracked so-called pseudo random number codes of Europe's first global navigation satellite, despite efforts to keep codes secret That means free access for consumers who use navigation devices - including handheld receivers and systems installed in vehicles - that need PRNs to listen to satellites
~ codes and methods used to extract them were published in June issue of GPS World
~ navigational satellite, called GIOVE-A, for Galileo In-Orbit Validation Element-A,
~ is a prototype for 30 satellites that by 2010 will constitute Galileo,
~ a $4-billion joint venture of European Union, European Space Agency and private investors
~ Galileo is Europe's answer to U.S. GPS system
~ Because GPS satellites, which were put into orbit by Department of Defense,
~ are funded by U.S. taxpayers, signal is free -- consumers need only purchase a receiver
~ Galileo, on the other hand, must make money to reimburse its investors -- presumably by charging a fee for PRN codes
~ Because Galileo and GPS will share frequency bandwidths, Europe and United States signed an agreement
~ whereby some of Galileo's PRN codes must be "open source"
~ Nevertheless, after broadcasting its first signals on Jan. 12, 2006, none of GIOVE-A's codes had been made public
~ In late January, Mark Psiaki, an aerospace engineer at Cornell and co-leader of GPS Laboratory,
~ requested codes from Martin Unwin at Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd, one of three privileged groups in the world with the PRN codes
~ "In a very polite way, he said, 'Sorry, goodbye,'" recalled Psiaki
~ Next, Psiaki contacted Oliver Montenbruck, a friend and colleague in Germany, and discovered that he also wanted codes
~ "Even Europeans were being frustrated," said Psiaki
~ "n it dawned on me: Maybe we can pull these things off the air, just with an antenna and lots of signal processing"
~ Within one week Psiaki's team developed a basic algorithm to extract codes
~ Two weeks later they had their first signal from satellite,
~ but were thrown off track because signal's repeat period was twice that expected
~ By mid-March they derived their first estimates of the code,
~ and -- with clever detective work and an important tip from Montenbruck -- published final versions on their Web site on April 1
~ Two days later, NovAtel Inc, a Canadian-based major manufacturer of GPS receivers,
~ downloaded codes from Web site in a few minutes and soon afterward began tracking GIOVE-A for the first time
~ Galileo eventually published PRN codes in mid-April, but they weren't codes currently used by GIOVE-A satellite
~ Furthermore, same publication labeled open source codes as intellectual property,
~ claiming a license is required for any commercial receiver
~ "That caught my eye right away," said Psiaki
~ "Apparently they were trying to make money on the open source code"
~ Afraid that cracking the code might have been copyright infringement, Psiaki's group sought outside help
~ "We were told that cracking encryption of creative content, like music or a movie, is illegal,
~ but encryption used by a navigation signal is fair game," said Psiaki
~ upshot: Europeans cannot copyright basic data about physical world,
~ even if data are coming from a satellite that they built
~ "Imagine someone builds a lighthouse," argued Psiaki
~ "And I've gone by and see how often light flashes and measured where coordinates are
~ Can owner charge me a licensing fee for looking at the light? …
~ No. How is looking at Galileo satellite any different?"
~ Other authors of GPS World article are Cornell colleagues
~ Paul Kintner, Todd Humphreys, Shan Mohiuddin, Alessandro Cerruti and Steven Powell

» U.S. move follows recent milestones in Europe
~ where European Commission and European Space Agency (ESA) are readying its GPS entry, Galileo
~ On Jan. 12,2006 ESA's Giove-A test satellite broadcast its first signals from Earth orbit
~ navigation satellite was launched on Dec. 28 from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazahstan
~ Giove-A, which stands for Galileo In-Orbit Validation Element,
~ will test frequencies allocated for Galileo constellation by International Telecommunications Union
~ ESA and European consortium building Galileo signed a 950 million euro ($116.6 million) contract
~ on Jan. 19 to complete the second phase of the European GPS project
~ partners have agreed to develop and construct the first four satellites in the planned 26-satellite Galileo constellation
~ Construction is scheduled to be completed by 2010
~ third phase will include launch of entire Galileo network
~ Total cost is estimated at 3.6 billion euros ($4.42 billion)