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CHINA SELECTS EU SATELLITE NAVIGATION SYSTEM

BRUSSELS - The European Union has won the backing of China for its Galileo satellite navigation system, a rival to the United States-designed Global Positioning System (GPS), reports EUBusiness.

An EU spokesman said a cooperation agreement signed recently in Beijing "opens the way for China to take a substantial financial part in the program through a stake-holding in the Galileo Joint Undertaking" (JU).
 
The Galileo JU is a joint venture between the EU and the European Space Agency.

China said it will cooperate with the EU on satellite navigation through joint work on research and development, manufacturing and technical aspects of the Galileo project such as radio frequencies.
 
A European Commission statement quoted Chinese Science and Technology Minister Xu Guanhua as saying that "China supports Galileo and plans to participate actively in its construction and application for mutual benefits."
 
The agreement was initialed in Beijing and - after its formal adoption by EU member states and the Chinese government within the next few weeks - is due to be signed at an EU-China summit on October 30.
 
Galileo, scheduled to be operational by 2008, is designed to encircle the globe with 30 satellites in medium Earth orbit, comprising 27 operational satellites and three reserves, plus two control centers on the ground.
 
It is expected to provide users, ranging from aircraft and shipping to cars and trekkers, with a navigational fix accurate to within just one square yard.
 
At present, the only global satellite navigation system available to civilians is the US-developed GPS, but it is accurate only to 325 feet for civilians, or 71 feet for the military.
 
Galileo's total development and launch costs are put at around $3.7 billion.

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