Satellite navigation is set to become the primary means of navigation for civil applications worldwide. Satellite navigation, positioning and timing have already found widespread application in a large variety of fields and will be an integral part of Europe’s future Trans European Networks for transport. Many safety-critical services, in areas of transport and numerous commercial applications will depend on this infrastructure. The European Commission White Book on transport policy has highlighted the importance of decoupling economic growth and expansion of transport corridors: this will be achieved by shifting the balance of transport modes, the elimination of bottlenecks and by placing users at the heart of transport policy. Galileo has been highlighted as a promising instrument to reach these goals.

One major concern for current satellite navigation users is the reliability and vulnerability of the navigation signal. Several cases of service disruption have been reported over the past years, which have had many different origins, including unintentional interference, satellite failure, signal denial or degradation. In this context, Galileo will contribute significantly to reduce these shortcomings by providing independently additional navigation signals broadcast in different frequency bands.

EGNOS, the European Geostationary Navigation Overlay Service, is a current satellite navigational system, which will augment the US GPS and Russian GLONASS satellite navigation systems by providing improved positional information (to within 5m), as well as information on its accuracy. Galileo, the European Global Navigation Satellite System, is due to provide highly accurate location-based services to users in 2008 (to within 1m). ESYS has been deeply involved with the EGNOS and Galileo programmes, particularly in market, business and cost benefit analysis of its downstream applications and services.

Galileo will provide the first satellite positioning and navigation system specifically for civil purposes. At present, there are two radio navigation satellite networks: the US Global Positioning System (GPS) and the Russian GLONASS systems.

It is crucial for Europe and the whole world to have a choice independent of, but complementary and interoperable with, the current US GPS. In addition, the scale of future navigation needs and the requirement for global coverage cannot be satisfied by a single system alone.

Galileo will comprise a constellation of 30 satellites divided between three circular orbits at an altitude of around 24,000 km to cover the Earth’s entire surface. They will be supported by a worldwide network of ground stations.