Director Fotis Karamitsos of the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Energy and Transport is also responsible for Galileo, which will be under civil administration control (the GPS is under military command).
“The Galileo satellite radio navigation system will become an integral part of the everyday life of Europeans and, we hope, for the rest of the world. The system will be used in mobile phones, air traffic management, car and maritime navigation, public services, safety and environmental management, and many other applications such as for ‘Search and Rescue’ with the specific telecommunications capacity that it will incorporate ,” he says.
The 30 Galileo satellites will provide global coverage and cost about Euro 3.2 billion to deploy. It will be 100% financed and owned by the EU. However, it has been estimated that the total commercial benefits of the system for European companies over a 20-year period to be about Euro 60 billion. During this period, Galileo will enable a broad range of everyday applications and, by some estimates, create more than 25,000 new jobs.
DNV has been involved in several projects relating to Galileo, such as the design of the Galileo System Certification Scheme.
Date: 2008-06-11