Europe To Launch Its Own GPS Satellite System

For educational purposes:

"Ian Sample, science correspondent
Tuesday December 27, 2005 The Guardian

At 3am tomorrow (today) morning a Russian Soyuz rocket is set to streak
into
the skies over Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan carrying a satellite
that is purpose built to break one of the most ubiquitous monopolies on

Earth.

If all goes according to plan, the rocket will soar to a height of
14,000 miles before releasing Giove-A, a wardrobe-sized box of
electronics, into orbit. Once in position it will gently unfold its
twin solar panels and begin to loop around the planet twice each day.
In doing so, Europe's most expensive space project, a rival to the US
military-run global positioning system GPS, will have taken its first
step.

Giove-A is a test satellite that paves the way for a network of 30 more

to be launched in 2006 and beyond. Together they will form Galileo, a
£2.3bn global positioning system more reliable and accurate than GPS.
Galileo has been hailed in Europe as a means to make money. The highly
accurate tracking system means road charging could be automated, air
traffic monitored with unprecedented precision and goods tracked to
people's doors. With mobile phones due to include satellite-positioning

receivers, emergency calls will be traced to within a metre. If
industry embraces Galileo, it could drive a multibillion euro market,
say experts.

But Galileo is largely a political project, aimed at asserting Europe's

independence. Although GPS is free and ubiquitous, it is optimised for
America and the accuracy of the system can drift by more than 30ft. GPS

is controlled by the US military which has the power to degrade or
switch off the signal at will. Because Galileo will be a highly
accurate civilian system run by a private consortium, supporters
believe it will usher in a new range of safety-critical services, such
as aircraft and emergency vehicle guidance systems.

Richard Peckham of EADS Astrium, a partner in the project, says that
the Galileo network is being launched at a time of increasing
dependence on satellite positioning systems. "Car satellite navigation
systems seem to be this year's top selling Christmas gadget," he said.

"It is becoming an intrinsic part of life."
With Galileo, services that can position goods, people and vehicles to
within three feet will be possible. While ramblers might make do with
the free signal, emergency services could use an encrypted, more
accurate signal to guide ambulances, fire engines or police cars to
their locations with unprecedented precision.

Mike Dillon of ESYS, an electronics company involved in the project,
says that ultimately Galileo could be used for automatic road charging,

and improving safety on Europe's roads by warning drivers of accident
blackspots, junctions or curves in the roads. "Right now there are
around 1.3bn accidents causing 40,000 fatalities each year," he said.
"That's the equivalent of two jumbo jets full of passengers crashing
every day."

Although the European Space Agency is forbidden to take part in
military projects, officials accept that once the signals are being
broadcast the defence industry will undoubtedly take advantage of them,

and develop devices that can operate with both GPS and Galileo.
According to plans, the Galileo satellites will be launched into orbit
eight at a time. There they will form three rings around the Earth,
with the full cluster of 30 due to be in place and working by 2010.

Giove-A, which was built in a record two years and three months by
Surrey Satellites, is crucial to Galileo's success. The satellite must
be in orbit and transmitting useful positioning signals by July 2006 to

meet a deadline set by the International Telecommunications Union
(ITU). If the deadline passes and no Galileo signals are being
broadcast from space, the European Space Agency will lose permission to

use the frequencies and the project will be knocked back to the drawing

board. With more than ?130m (£89m) invested, missing the deadline is
an
outcome the British government will not be keen to witness.

If the launch is successful, news that the satellite is working is
likely to come from Chilbolton Observatory in Hampshire early on
Wednesday morning. Scientists at the observatory will use a 25m
receiving dish to hunt the heavens for signals from Giove-A as evidence

that it reached the right orbit and powered up.

A failed launch will not necessarily mean the end of Galileo. A back-up

satellite, which carries more new technology than Giove-A is on standby

for launch to meet the ITU deadline.

Since its inception the Galileo project has been marred by disputes
over financial contributions within the EU and rows with the US over
the frequencies Galileo satellites would broadcast on. Military
officials in America initially raised strong objections to Galileo
because one of its signals was on a frequency close to the encrypted
military signal used by US forces.

Their objections centred on the argument that if the US wanted to deny
satellite positioning services to other countries they were in conflict

with, they would have to jam Galileo's signal, but in doing so risked
jamming their own. Under intense pressure which nearly saw the Galileo
project scrapped entirely, the EU backed down and moved the frequencies

Galileo will broadcast on. The US also balked at China's signing of a
multimillion pound contract to be part of the Galileo project.

The launch tonight has special poignancy for engineers at the firm
behind the satellite. It carries its own unusual cargo, a plaque
inscribed with the name of Tom Fairbairn. The 25-year-old engineer
worked on the probe at Surrey Satellites, a university spin-off
company, until his life was cut short by the tsunami that struck the
shores of the Indian Ocean on Boxing day last year.

Mr Fairbairn died with his parents when waves battered Khao Lak in
Thailand where they were holidaying. "We hope the plaque will be a
fitting tribute to Tom," said Phil Davies of Surrey Satellites."

.

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