European satellite navigation gets off the ground

[Judi Lynn]

Times Online December 28, 2005

European satellite navigation gets off the ground
By Times Online and AP

The first satellite in the European Unions’s Galileo satellite navigation programme was launched today from Kazakhstan, a major step forward for Europe’s answer to the United States’ Global Positioning System (GPS) satellites.

The satellite, named Giove A, took off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan aboard a Soyuz rocket on schedule at 11.19 a.m. local time (0519 GMT). After the launch amid clear skies, ground control teams were waiting to establish a connection with the satellite. Journalists monitored the lift off through a linkup at the European Space Agency headquarters in Paris.

In orbit, the satellite will test atomic clocks and navigation signals, secure Galileo’s frequencies in space and allow scientists to monitor how radiation affects the craft.

The 3.4 billion euro Galileo project will eventually use about 30 satellites and end Europe’s reliance on the GPS system, which is ultimately controlled by the United States military. Galileo is under civilian control and the European Space Agency says it can guarantee operation at all times, except in case of "the direst emergency". For now, "if the Americans want to scramble GPS, they can do it whenever they want, and everyone would suffer from these decisions," ESA spokesman Franco Bonacina said.
(snip/...)

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,13509-1961301,00.html

[fujiyama]

1. This really is a big "FUCK YOU"

to the US. I remember hearing how the US government constantly tried to get them not to do this.

[theoldman]

2. The Galileo system is also more acurate.

Guess which one people will use the most.

[DFWdem]

3. Not really

GPS available to the public is accurate to within about 30 feet, but if the signal is not intentionally degraded by the military it is accurate within inches, maybe less. I think the true precision of the system is classified, but I could be wrong.