During the summer break, many Europeans go on holiday by car. In order to avoid getting lost along the way, increasingly, they are making use of a GPS. Yet very few of them know that in the near future, they will be able to use a European global satellite navigation system: Galileo.
What is GPS?
GPS is the abbreviation for Global Positioning System. The system was invented in the 1970s by the American Ministry of Defence. It was created strictly for tactical-military purposes: launching American nuclear weapons with greater precision, helping pilots find the right course… at the beginning of the 1980s, however, that would change. In 1983, a navigation error caused a civilian aircraft from Korean Air to accidentally enter the airspace of the Soviet Union. Russian fighter jets promptly shot it down. All 269 passengers and crew were killed. Protest was voiced worldwide. President Ronald Reagan decided to declassify the GPS-technology for civilian use.
Currently, there are already 31 GPS-satellites orbiting the earth. Each one of them has an atomic clock onboard that transmits the exact time to earth. Based on that signal, the GPS-receiver calculates the precise position on earth.
What is Galileo?
Reason for existence
The European Commission believes that the European Union must not be completely dependent on the American satellite navigation system. After all, that system could be encrypted or shut down. That is why in 1999, the Commission made a proposal to build a European system of our own: Galileo, named after the 16th century Italian astronomer.
Characteristics
In contrast to the American GPS and the Russian Glonass, the European Galileo is a civil global satellite navigation system. In other words: anyone will be able to use it, anywhere and for free. What’s more, thanks to the millimetre-scale positioning, Galileo will be the most accurate system of the three.
But Galileo is so much more than a global satellite navigation system. Locating delinquents wearing electronic ankle bands, calculating the waiting time at bus stops or tracing stolen cars are but a few of the countless possibilities. In addition, Galileo has a tremendous economic potential and will lead to the creation of many new jobs.
Galileo is not a strictly European project. Countries such as China, India, Israel and Morocco are also contributing to it.
Course
On 26 May 2003, the project was officially launched by the European Union and the European Space Agency (ESA). On 28 December 2005 the first test satellite GIOVE-A was successfully launched from the Russian launching base Baikonur in Kazakhstan. On 27 April 2008 it was followed by a second: GIOVE-B. Ultimately, the network will consist of 30 satellites. The estimated cost is 3.4 billion euros.
More information is available on the website of the European Space Agency!