Galileo GNSS Network Hit By More Delays

Galileo GNSS Network Hit By More Delays

http://www.gpsdaily.com/reports/Galileo_satellite_navigation_network_hit_by_another_delay_999.html

by Staff Writers
Frankfurt (AFP) Sept 24, 2007

The struggling European navigation system Galileo faces yet another
delay with a three-month postponement of its second satellite launch,
a press report said Monday.

"The forecast launch of the second satellite in December will now be
held in March 2008," a spokesman for the launch company Arianespace
was quoted by the Financial Times Deutschland as saying.

Problems with the Russian rocket Soyuz which is to place the Giove-B
satellite in geo-stationary orbit were responsible for the latest
setback, the newspaper reported.

The Galileo navigation system was designed to compete with the GPS
system already in wide use, but Galileo has been hit by rising costs,
and European Union officials had to step in when squabbling among
mooted private partners caused several deadlines to be missed.

Galileo is to consist of 30 satellites orbiting at 24,000 kilometers
above the earth, and provide a civilian alternative to the GPS
network which is run by the US military.

The European network also promises location precision of around one
metre, as opposed to 10 metres for the US version.

EU authorities are now debating whether the estimated 10 billion euro
(14 billion dollar) price tag for Galileo should be publicly
financed, with an extra 2.4 billion euros in unused funds from the
27-nation bloc's joint budget.

The latest forecast for the system to become operational is 2012