EU agrees to publicly fund Galileo satellite project

William Atkins
Saturday, 24 November 2007 23:08

Science - Space

The Galileo positioning system, which is a European Union project, that, when completed, will be a global navigational satellite system and, thus, a competitor of the U.S. Global Positioning System (GPS). It will be funded with public funds after private investors refused to further fund the project.        

According to an EU report released Friday, November 23, 2007, the Europen Union countries will spend U.S.$3.55 billion (2.4 billion euro) on the Galileo project. The public finances will come from monies originally scheduled to be spent on other programs, primarily in agriculture, which had not yet been spent.

The agreement to spend the money by the EU countries was reported not to have been voted on unanimously by its members. Germany reportedly voted against the deal.

The original group of companies, collectively called European Satellite Navigation Industries, was placed in charge of developing Galileo. The group of companies finally disbanded after they refused to continue to pay for expanding expenses for the project.

The Galileo system is intended to be 30 675-kilogram satellites orbiting about 14,430 miles (23,222 kilometers) above the Earth, in three orbital planes at a 56 degree inclination. Each satellite is expected to last at least for twelve years.