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September 2002
Galileo could become alternative GPS
After months of wrangling among member states, the European Union has finally agreed to go ahead with Galileo, a pan-European satellite navigation project. The Council of Transport Ministers has released 450 million euros to develop the project. The first satellites are expected to go into orbit in 2007. The EU sees Galileo as proof that it can carry out large-scale industrial projects. It has been designed from the outset for civilian use, and is seen as having a key role in meeting EU targets of reducing road congestion and delivering sustainable transport systems. Eventually it could provide an alternative satellite navigation system to the GPS network operated by the US Government. The origins of GPS as a military system mean that, despite US government assurances to the contrary, there are residual fears that civilian use of the satellites could one day be restricted, as they were in the past.
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