GALILEO: launch of €67 million call for research, development and demonstration activities

Brussels, 2nd June 2004

Yesterday, the GALILEO Joint Undertaking launched the second call for proposals for research activities dedicated to GALILEO, with an overall budget of €67 million.

The aim is to support the development of applications and user receivers to exploit the European satellite radio-navigation programme. The first call for proposals for GALILEO under the 6th Research Framework Programme was a success with eight large research activities beginning in 2003 and totalling €19 million. This second call for proposals covers applications in traditional fields such as location based services, road transport, maritime transport and aviation and rail applications.

It also caters for niche markets such as in multi-modal transport, emergency management and law enforcement, energy, scientific research, agriculture, land survey and civil engineering, etc. Particular attention will be paid to the involvement of small and medium size enterprises. Welcoming the launch, Loyola de Palacio, Vice-President of the European Commission, said: “This call for proposals responds to the huge interest shown by European industry in satellite radio-navigation applications and provides further evidence of the very promising prospects for GALILEO.”

The second call is structured in three areas:

User segment development

Mission definition and implementation

Innovation and international initiatives

The success of these activities again demonstrates that the development phase of GALILEO is proceeding well and that the knowledge and interest of European industries in this field are increasing rapidly.

An Information Day will take place in Brussels on 2 June 2004 for companies, research centres and enterprises interested in these activities.

Detailed information can be found either at:
http:///www.cordis.lu/en/home.html
http:///europa.eu.int/comm/dgs/energy_transport/galileo
www.galileoju.com

Background

GALILEO is Europe's satellite radio navigation programme. It was launched on the initiative of the European Commission and developed jointly with the European Space Agency (ESA). It heralds the advent of a technological revolution similar to the one initiated by mobile phones.

It will also prepare for the development of a new generation of universal services in areas such as transport, telecommunications, agriculture and fisheries. To date this technology, which promises to be highly profitable, is only available through the United States’ GPS system and Russia's GLONASS system, both of which are financed and controlled by military authorities. The GALILEO programme will be administered and controlled by civilian authorities and offers a guarantee of quality and continuity which is essential for many applications. It is complementary with current systems and will increase the reliability and availability of navigation and positioning services worldwide.

For more information about GALILEO, please visit:

http:///europa.eu.int/comm/dgs/energy_transport/galileo

http:///www.esa.int/export/esaSA/navigation.html

http:///www.galileoju.com

Item source: IP/04/704 Date: 02/06/2004