Brussels, 23/06/2000 (Agence Europe) - The European Commission will be presenting at Monday's Transport Council (see preceding pages) an overview on all aspects of the definition phase of the Galileo project: configuration of the system, financing, international negotiations, and so on. Studies due to be concluded in the fall "are expected to confirm Galileo's overall cost" of EUR 3 billion. Since the start-up of the project, the Commission has emphasised its view that Galileo should be financed out of both public and private funds. Meetings on this public-private partnership have allegedly produced sound results - the figure of EUR 1.5 billion in contributions is being mentioned. According to the Commission report, Galileo's considerable operational earnings could make possible the "development of total or partial privatisation schemes for the future (ground systems, commercial systems, etc.)". The creation of Galileo should nonetheless take place under the direction of the States.
An all-out international consultation is in progress. Discussions with the United States focused, as expected, on the compatibility between the American GPS and Galileo. According to the report, the United States is not interested in supplying a certified paying signal and recommends "a free, global service". Discussions with Russia brought to the fore the idea of "two independent but complementary constellations", allowing for "lower costs". With Russia, concrete industrial cooperation projects should be launched rapidly. Furthermore, Canada will have decided to contribute to the financing of Galileo. "Israel, Brazil, Chile and certain countries of Africa and Asia" have also shown their determination to cooperation in defining or validating pilot projects.
The architecture of the system should make it possible not only to ensure the tracking service free of charge but also the certified and pay service. In concrete terms, experts tend to be in favour of a system that is based on a constellation of 30 satellites to be placed on 3 medium orbit levels and whose signals would be relayed by a network of some 30 ground stations throughout the planet. The current network of European satellites, Egnos, will be integrated into the system.
This interim report will be followed up in December by a final report that should mark the end of the definition phase of this European project for a global satellite tracking and navigation system, and launch the experiment and validation phase. The Commission provides for Galileo to be operational in 2007 and 2008. From 2003 on, the Egnos system should be considerably improved.