Galileo
is an initiative of the European
Union (EU) and the European
Space Agency (ESA). It comprises the development, implementation
and operation of a state-of-the-art global and multi-modal navigation
satellite system. Galileo will not only give Europe independence
in the field of traffic management and telematics infrastructure
but will bring vast economic benefits for European equipment manufacturers
and service industries and create additional employment in high
technologie.
Current projections envisage that the Galileo system will consist
of 30 satellites in medium Earth orbit and the associated ground
infrastructure. The system will provide navigation signals to the
users worldwide with high performance, service guarantees and liability
regulations depending on the service class chosen by the individual
user. Galileo will be compatible and interoperable with the other
planned second-generation global positioning systems.
The cost of the overall project is estimated at some €3.2 billion.
€1.1 billion, equally shared between the European Commission
(EC) and ESA, have been allocated by the European Ministers. Financial
schemes for the subsequent phases are being worked and will be submitted
to the EC.
On
Going projects of the detailed definition phase
· GALILEI,
· GalileoSat Phase B2,
· SAGA to support Galileo Standardisation
process,
· GENESIS.
Projects
of the definition phase 1999/2000
· GALA
for the overall architecture definition,
· GEMINUS to support the
Galileo service definition,
· INTEG for EGNOS integration
into Galileo,
· GalileoSat for the space
segment architecture definition,
· GUST related to Galileo
receivers pre-specification
and certification,
· SARGAL related to
Search and Rescue potential SAR applications
of Galileo.
GALILEI
GALILEI is an activity funded by the European Commission. It has
the purpose of defining the overall service and user approach for
GALILEO , complementing the studies performed by ESA in the frame
of the GALILEO definition phase, in particular on following topics:
· architecture of GALILEO Local Components
and customisation for some
key applications,
· interoperability between GALILEO and other systems (GNSS,
GSM/UMTS,
etc.),
· co-ordination and protection of frequencies used by GALILEO,
· standardisation and certification aspects,
· market observatory of applications using GALILEO,
· definition of the legal, regulatory and institutional
framework of GALILEO
GalileoSat
Phase B2
Phase B2 of the GalileoSat study led by ESA focusses on the consolidation
of mission and system requirements, system architecture and finalisation
of phase B activities leading to the Preliminary System Design Review
(PSDR).
SAGA
(Standardisation Activities for GAlileo)
SAGA (Standardisation Activities for GAlileo) set up the platform
for continuous standardisation activities up to the operational
phase of Galileo. By establishing, through International Bodies,
a worldwide recognition and interoperability between Galileo and
other systems like GPS or GLONASS, SAGA contributes standards for
Galileo to be adopted inside and outside Europe. SAGA standards
will help to ensure safety, streamline traffic operations and reduce
congestion and environmental damage. The SAGA consortium is led
by THALES Avionics (FR).
GALA
(GALileo Architecture definition)
The main EC contract during the definition phase, named GALA, for
the GALileo overall Architecture definition, was worth € 27
million and provided the mission specification, the global architecture
and system specifications for Galileo. It also covered the interfacing
with the other activities, planned during the Galileo industrial
phase, to ensure that the architectural design is fully co-ordinated
and coherent. The GALA industrial consortium led by ALCATEL SPACE
INDUSTRIES (France) was made up of over 60 European companies.
GalileoSat
(Galileo Space Segment and related Ground Segment)
The ESA GalileoSat definition study contract, worth € 20 million,
comprised the definition of Galileo space segment (the satellite
constellation) and of its ground systems. The GalileoSat industrial
consortium led by Alenia Aerospazio involved more than 50 European
subcontractors.
GEMINUS
(Galileo European Multimodal Integrated Navigation User Service)
The GEMINUS study defined the essential features of the Galileo
Services in order to meet the requirements of international subscribers.
The project illustrated, through case studies where necessary, the
regulatory and commercial operating environments that will ensure
Galileo's success. The GEMINUS consortium was led by THALES Avionics
(UK).
INTEG
(INTegration of EGNOS into Galileo)
Since 1995, considerable effort has been dedicated to
the EGNOS programme allowing Europe to develop expertise in the
GNSS field and to build an augmentation system to GPS and GLONASS.
The objective of the INTEG study was to analyse a seamless transition
from EGNOS to Galileo from technical, economical, operational and
institutional points of view. The INTEG consortium was led by ALCATEL
SPACE INDUSTRIES.
GUST
( Galileo User Support Transport )
The objective of the GUST project was to support the EC in the field
of Galileo terminals (receivers) during Galileo development phase.
Early-standardisation, receiver certification and compatibility
with GPS and GLONASS were the three main issues considered in this
project. The GUST consortium was composed of FDC, THALES Avionics
(FR) and the Organization of European GNSS equipment and Service
Industries (OREGIN) as partners.
SARGAL
( study for Search And Rescue in GALileo )
A consortium lead by Sofreavia and including THALES Airborne Systems
and the International Institute of Air and Space Law studied the
possibility of providing Search And Rescue (SAR) services through
the Galileo satellites, and also to expand these services by introducing
a data link capability for feeding back information to distress
beacons of a new generation, while remaining upwardly compatible
with the one way emissions of current 406 MHz beacons. The project
was started at the beginning of January 2000. It addressed all the
technical, institutional and operational issues that need to be
analyzed before proposing to supplement or replace the current (SAR-dedicated)
COSPAS-SARSAT satellites by the (multi-purpose) Galileo constellation.
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