The Big News at Galileo Industries inaugural press conference at its new Brussels office (belonging to Finmeccanica) on May 25 happened over three weeks earlier in Edinburgh. There, Nasa Administrator Daniel Goldin told the Global Navigation Satellite Systems Conference that the US Air Force was forthwith offering Precision Code signals free of charge to all users. This means a nominal 30m accuracy rather than 100m. Still, barely adequate for precision aircraft landings or even car navigation.

This move was interpreted – wrongly say the Americans – as an attempt to spike the guns of ESA and the European Commission. These bodies are putting together the rival, and civilian, Galileo System. Initial funding includes 29 million from the EC for the GALA study to define the mission specification. ESA is putting in 20 million (agreed in Brussels last year) for the GalileoSat study, initially to define the space and ground-control segment architecture. A prime contract was awarded to Italy’s Alenia Spazio last October; Galileo Industries SA is a consortium comprising this company plus Alcatel of France and the Astrium companies in Germany and the UK.

Eventually a Vehicle Operating company will be established actually to build and operate the system. There are hopes of getting it fully operable two years earlier than planned, by 2006.

Among the responsibilities of Galileo Industries will be drafting a Public/Private Partnership designed to spread some of the costs (estimated at up to three billion in all) to the private sector. This applies specially to user equipment, by far the most lucrative market. Some seed money might be attracted from other EC Information projects.