Back in 2002, the range of services to be offered by Galileo was announced. These were designed to meet a range of user needs, ensure a huge population of Galileo enabled devices and thereby realise substantial public utility. They were also devised with the intention of supporting the European space industry and provide some much needed competitiveness alongside its US and Russian counterparts. Since those early days, life has become much simpler. Member States are demanding shorter term returns on their investment and there is scant room for longer term strategic services without tangible user demand.

So perhaps it should have come as little surprise when on 22 June, the European Commission announced plans to procure an additional 6 satellites alongside the 18 satellites already due to be launched by 2015. This is the clearest sign yet that the Commission is directing its remaining funds on delivering maximum performance to the mass market at the expense of more advanced safety critical mission requirements. Assuming that the Commission is able to fund the launch of these new vehicles, then this could deliver a much needed ‘shot in the arm’ to chipset and receiver manufacturers, many of whom might otherwise continue to delay their plans for Galileo readiness. Meanwhile, it now remains unclear when the Safety of Life (SOL) service will be realised since the Commission stated that it plans to ‘re-profile’ the service.

Back in 2009, I penned an article in GPS World that talked of the race to become the preferred partner of GPS. Many readers at the time dismissed the challenge of GLONASS and yet, since then, the hunger for multiple constellations has not abated and manufacturers such as ST-Ericsson have publicly committed themselves to a future with GLONASS and (hopefully) Galileo. A recent article in GNSS Inside gives some of the best practical evidence that I have seen of the benefits of a second GNSS constellation in a deep urban environment. Here Broadcom reports that the percentage of time where the number of visible satellites drops below 5 falls from 45% with GPS alone to just 1.2% with the addition of GLONASS. This lays down a clear challenge for Galileo and perhaps endorses the Commission’s recent announcement.

Whether this is a clever piece of positioning or not will now be determined by the market’s response.

To learn more please This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it , or come and meet me and the team at either of the following forthcoming events:

• IET seminar - Modernising Satnav (London, 5th Oct 2011)
• European Navigation Conference 2011 (London, 29th Nov - 1st Dec 2011)

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