Brussels, 17/03/2005 (Agence Europe) - Many stages have still to be crossed before Europe can have its own truly operational satellite navigation system. There is of course the final choice of concessionary that must be made in coming months with the major impact that this would have on the industrial sector concerned, because the Commission is determined to avoid any form of merger between the two rivals (see EUROPE of 2 March, p;12), but one must also take into account the crucial moment of launching the first satellite, this November and, more immediately, negotiations are to be conducted in the aim of allowing interconnection between Galileo and the Russian system, Glonass.
After negotiating the conditions for co-existence and interoperability of Galileo and the American GPS, the Commission is today negotiating with Russian military authorities in order to convince them to adapt the Glonass system in order to make it compatible with the future European system. Why? one might ask. Russian technology is totally different and the Glonass satellite signals (each Glonass satellite uses a different signal) are not compatible with the Galileo frequencies. The Russian side must therefore be convinced that it should adapt its system to a common central frequency that is able to migrate on the Galileo network, a Commission official explains, somewhat optimistic about the result of the negotiations. At the present time, the Russia system is exclusively for military purposes. What is more, its functioning leaves much to be desired and it is being upgraded in order to allow it to be more efficient by 2007. The wish for cooperation with the two other systems can be explained by the concern to make the best possible signal constantly available for users of the future European satellite navigation system.
In order to make Galileo work, a constellation of thirty satellites (ten satellites revolving in three separate orbits) must be set up in space. This will be one of the tasks of the future concessionary who will have to select the best delivery systems from among those available (terms and conditions state that the concessionary must replace the satellites which have a useful life of between twelve and fifteen years). In order to place all satellites in orbit, it will be necessary to use large delivery systems such as the Ariane 5 ECA (the configuration of the traditional Ariane 5 model would not be suitable for this kind of launch) or the Russian-designed Proton delivery system, used by International Launch Services, a joint undertaking between the American company, Lockheed Martin, and the Russian, Krunichev. These large delivery systems should be able to carry four to six satellites at any one time (Ariane 5 ECA may even carry up to eight in one go but must first of all confirm its first successful launch carried out just one month ago). Such sizeable launches should be combined with smaller launches of one or two satellites with the Russian or Ukrainian launch facilities, Soyuz or Zenith. Such combinations may evolve according to the circumstances, and, of course, the needs. In their current design, the Galileo satellites are quite light (by way of 500 kilos) but could become heavier as the system is developed, especially if it is necessary to strengthen the signal and develop means for protecting the satellite itself.
By May 2006 at the latest, Europe must be able to send out a signal if it wants to keep the frequencies originally attributed to France, Germany and the United Kingdom, but that these States have entrusted to the Galileo Surveillance Authority for the sole use of Galileo. Two satellites are being prepared with this in mind. The first, which is also the smaller of the two, must be launched end November by a Soyuz launch facility from Baikonur. The second will follow early 2006. It is all the more crucial to successfully put the first satellite into orbit at 22,000 km from Earth as this should not only emit a signal but also provide useful information for enhancing successive satellites. It will also for the very first time in space test the atomic clock which is the core element of the positioning device, an official of the European Space Agency points out. The reliability of the Galileo system, which is to have a maximum margin of error of less than one metre, depends on the clock having an accuracy of 10-8 seconds.