Slashgeo

Vector One has an interesting blog entry about why GALILEO is much more than about sovereignty. From the entry's introduction: "GALILEO is more than politics alone, it aims to capitalise upon the convergence of geotechnology developement and awareness. Other benefits dovetail with current European Commission goals associated with transportation. Lastly, GALILEO will serve as a deeper conduit that promotes pan-European education agenda while increasing synergy between countries and industry. GALILEO has everything to do with pro-European development."

The Surveying, Mapping and GIS blog discuss an interesting story about British drivers mad at Galileo. From the Association of British Drivers press release: "The EU is already planning to use Galileo to enforce continental-wide road tolling, and the car-hating British government wants to be first. You won't be able to drive anywhere without the EU knowing where you are going, who you are travelling with, and what speed you are travelling at." Here's an older (June 2005) pertinent article from The Register.

Slashdot discuss and links to a Newswise article named cracking the secret codes of Europe's Galileo satellite. From the article's introduction: "Members of Cornell's Global Positioning System (GPS) Laboratory have cracked the so-called pseudo random number (PRN) codes of Europe's first global navigation satellite, despite efforts to keep the 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."

the SM-GIS blog links to a Space Review article on Europe's Galileo and China's Compass. From the article: "For the Chinese, Galileo is no longer a partner, but instead more of a competitor. They extracted as much as they reasonably could have out of their relationship with the Europeans over this and now have decided to strike out on their own. [...] China was invited into Galileo partly as a way to snub the US and partly because the Europeans seem to believe that the more “international” a project is the better chance it has of not being canceled."

All Points Blog links to a EETimes article on Europe's Galileo being behind schedule. From the article: "Barrot said the year-end deadline to conclude the negotiations would again be missed. Original plans called for a deal to be concluded by late 2005. The Commissioner also revealed that the start-up budget of Euros 1.5 billion is still about Euros 200 million short and that talks with national governments are continuing to finalize this budget. "

konquest writes "One year ago today, GIOVE-A began transmitting Galileo navigation signals. This satellite is the first flight element in ESA’s in-orbit validation programme for Galileo. 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."

GeoCarta links to an article about the European Galileo project halted by serious problems. From the article: "Plans to launch a European satellite navigation system to rival the US global positioning system have ground to a halt following a break down in relations between governments and private contractors. Jacques Barrot, the transport commissioner, said on Wednesday he was writing to the eight companies building the Galileo system to discover the reason for more than a year's delay. "They are just not working," said his spokesman. [...] There were originally to be 30 satellites in place by 2010 but Mr Barrot's spokesman said the system would not be operational until 2011, and the timetable was slipping by the day. China recently said its Beidou system would cover China and its neighbours by 2008, and then the rest of the world." See also the numerous related stories below.

After serious troubles on the Galileo front, the European Parliament is now financially backing Galileo. From the short article: "The EU Parliament wants to reopen the EU's long-term budget perspectives to fund Galileo, whereas a majority of member states prefer taking the missing €2.4 billion from other EU programmes. According to estimates, some €3.4 billion will be needed to put Galileo's 30 satellites into orbit, whereas currently only €1 billion is foreseen for the operational expenditure in the EU's long term budget 2007-2013."

Slashdot discuss a Reuters article on the U.S. and Europe trying to reach an agreement to allow using GPS and Galileo signals together. Their summary: "The US and EU are in talks to allow their separate GPS systems to work together. The future uses would allow enhanced location information based on two readings, among other benefits. 'The market probably will drive dual-use receivers. We think probably that single (U.S.) GPS-specific, or Galileo-specific receivers — the market will phase out in time [...] It just doesn't make sense to limit yourself to just one system'." Also from the article: "Under the agreement, which the United States says it expects to be signed this week, both EU and U.S. satellites would send information on the same radio frequency, enabling receivers to get signals from both systems and combine the data." If you read the informative comment on Very Spatial, you'll learn that such GPS-Galileo cooperation was planned from the beginning. See below numerous related stories, including the serious financial troubles of Galileo. Vector One also remarks the new USAF approved 8 GPSIIIa satellites to be launched by 2013.

Here's a few news regarding the Galileo European satellite navigation system. The SatNav blog questions the objectives of the Galileo program and provide comments following a European Commission communication on Galileo. Related, APB links to an article on the European Commission outlining its plan to get the Galileo satellite navigation system back on track [BBC] and new delays for the second satellite launch. From the BBC article: "This would mean member states having to find about a billion more than they expected because of the collapse of private sector involvement. The EC is determined to have Galileo operational by the end of 2012. However, this target is dependent on financing arrangements being put in place this year. So far, only four spacecraft in the eventual 30-satellite constellation have been ordered. Unless contracts are issued for more platforms in the coming months, the timetable will slip again and Europe's biggest single space project may then face calls to be scrapped altogether." See also the related stories below.

Here's a few recent news regarding GALILEO and GLONASS GPS systems. I copied in related stories below many items of interest regarding the two programs. Recent geoblogs entries include Vector One discussing GALILEO: "Today Christopher Booker of the Telegraph newspaper in the UK sums up the project in his column, “The costs of Galileo have already taken off so wildly (and it is already six years behind schedule), that we may well hand over much more than £1.7 billion to pay for our 17 per cent share in this white elephant (somehow two thirds of the EU’s members have managed to get out of paying anything at all).”" Google's Ed Parsons chimes in. Meanwhile, GLONASS seems in much better shape, as indicated by this other V1 entry and the news of the successful new GLONASS satellite launch.