Brussels, 07/01/2010 (Agence Europe) - The European Commission announced on Thursday 7 January that it had awarded the three largest Galileo (the European satellite navigation system) contracts for satellites, support services and launch services. The decision, taken after 18 months of assessing the competing offers in each of the three areas, marks the real beginning of this European counterpart of the US GPS and Russian Glonass systems. Early services, such as the Open Service, the Public Regulated Service and the Search and Rescue Service will be available from 2014. The others, including the Safety-of-Life Service and the Commercial Service will be provided as Galileo reaches full operational capability with a constellation of 30 satellites. Depending on the funding made available, this is unlikely to be before 2015-2016.
The award, announced by Transport Commissioner Antonio Tajani, of three of the six contracts into which the system was divided following the dissolution, in 2007, of the public-private consortium that was charged with setting it up (see EUROPE 9503 and 9554), paves the way for activation of Galileo's initial operational capability. Eighteen satellites needed for the system's initial services, support services and five satellite launches (each carrying two satellites into orbit) have hitherto been assured; the contracts for later work will be awarded on the basis of a further call for tenders. In terms of satellites, it was the German firm OHB System AG and its UK associate SSTL which won the contract, worth €566 million, for the construction of 14 of the system's remaining 22 satellites, defeating, in the process, the EADS Astrium GmbH consortium. The first satellite is due to be delivered in 2012, with launch planned for October of the same year. From that date, the EU will put two satellites into orbit roughly every three months. Four satellites that have already been ordered, including from Astrium, as part of the current In-Orbit Validation (IOV) phase, will be launched this year. Speaking to the press, Tajani announced the launch of two further satellites before the end of the year, probably for the end of November. Two others will be launched in 2011. The remaining satellites will be purchased following a new call for tender and selected on the basis of “the most advantageous offer”, the Commission notes in a press release published on Thursday. At the end of December, each of the two companies signed a framework contract with the Commission, covering the period from 2010 to 2015, paving the way for the eventual provision of a maximum of 32 satellites.
The support services contract, worth €85 million, was awarded to the Italian firm ThalesAleniaSpace. The framework contract signed with this company runs until 2016. The specific contract awarded on Thursday for the first contract states that Thales will be responsible inter alia for system engineering, signal-in-space engineering and ground segment engineering.
The €397 million launch services contract was awarded to Arianespace of France. The contract is for the launch of five Soyuz launchers (the only ones available at the moment) from Kourou, French Guiana, each carrying two satellites on board. It also contains options for the launch of the last four satellites. Depending on available funding and on the capacity of European industry, these options provide for either two additional Soyuz launches (carrying two satellites) or one Ariane 5 (carrying four satellites). The first launch is scheduled for the end of November 2010.
“The programme has well and truly begun,” Tajani told press, stating that the Open Service, the Public Regulated Service and the Search and Rescue Service will be provided from early 2014. The Safety-of-Life Service and the Commercial Service will be tested from 2014 and will be available as soon as the programme's 30 satellites are in orbit. Thus, for security-related services, the Galileo signal will not be validated before 2015 or 2016, depending, to a large extent, on the funding made available to the programme. When asked about the final cost of the programme, Tajani acknowledged that this had risen as a result of the increased cost of the launchers (see EUROPE 10035), adding, however, that, for the moment, costs were “more or less within budget”. Apart from the various applications the programme will offer, Europe will gain “political independence” in the satellite navigation market and will make gains estimated at €90 billion between 2010 and 2027, he pointed out. The remaining three procurement contracts, for the ground mission infrastructure, the ground control infrastructure and the operations “should be awarded by mid-2010,” Tajani said. Tenderers have two weeks to obtain any information they may need and to finalise the fine detail of the contracts, which will then be signed by the European Space Agency (ESA) on behalf of the Commission. (A.By./transl.rt)