With 18 satellites in orbit, Galileo, the European navigation programme, will shortly launch its initial services, the European Global Navigation Satellite Systems Agency (GSA) announced on Monday 21 November.
Following the recent launch of four satellites for the Galileo constellation (see EUROPE 11670), the GSA has confirmed that the declaration of initial services is expected soon. “Galileo will officially go from being a Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) system in testing to a live, operational service”, stated the GSA in a press release. GSA Executive Director Carlo des Dorides said that the agency would take a prominent role in overseeing the service provision and monitoring the security of the overall system.
The first services to be proposed by the programme will include the Open Service (which provides positioning, velocity and timing information), Public Regulated Service (PRS, an encrypted navigation system), and Search and Rescue Service (SAR).
One of the challenges for the future – one that was highlighted in the recent strategy (see EUROPE 11659) – will be to ensure that smart phones and navigation systems are compatible with Galileo. The agency would seem to be rather optimistic on this point, since close to 60% of receivers, chipsets and modules already support the current GNSS constellation. Of these, nearly 40% are Galileo compatible. By 2018, the Galileo system will be fitted in every new car sold in Europe, enabling the eCall emergency response system (see EUROPE 11304).
The full Galileo constellation of 24 satellites is expected to be completed by 2020. (Original version in French by Pascal Hansens)