Europe launches its rival to GPS

Updated: 2005-12-29 07:01

The satellite was sent into orbit by a Russian Soyuz launch vehicle. [Reuters]

Two more satellites will be launched in 2008 to complete the testing phase, which requires at least four satellites in orbit to guarantee an exact position and time anywhere on earth.

Consumers are expected to be able to buy Galileo-ready receivers from 2008, and they will be able to switch back and forth between GPS and Galileo, similar to how people can change between cell phone networks now, Bonacina said. People should be able to hook up to Galileo by 2010.

Last year, the EU and the United States made a deal to make Galileo compatible with the GPS system, ending a trans-Atlantic feud over the issue.

The Pentagon had initially criticized Galileo as unnecessary and a potential security threat during wartime, saying its signals could interfere with the next-generation GPS signals intended for use by the US military.

China a partner in satellite programme

China is the first non-EU nation to have signed on to the Galileo programme. With a promised investment of 200 million euros (US$244 million), Beijing inked the Galileo Project Co-operation Agreement on Civil Global Satellite Navigation with the European Commission in October 2003.

Last year, the two sides met on several occasions to discuss details of the programme's implementation, including technological collaboration.

In March, China Galileo Industries Ltd was established and entrusted the task of handling the country's interests in the project. The State-owned company will help commercialize the civilian use of the Galileo system in China.

In July, seven Galileo projects were contracted to the Chinese side, including the development of a fisheries application system, special ionospheric studies and location based service standardization.

Israel and Ukraine have also signed on to the programme. Discussions are under way with India, Morocco, South Korea, Norway and Argentina, the EU said.