The European Union has selected the three international Consortia that will participate in the final phase of the competitive tender for the management of the Galileo Project of satellite navigation. The Consortia in question are Etelsat, Inmarsat/Eads/Thales and Alcatel Space/Vinci. The winning Consortium will work in partnership with the EU and the European Space Agency in the management of the project, whose investment totals 2.2 billion euros. The design phase of the satellites and their terrestrial bases will begin in 2005, while the launch of the satellites, completion of the orbital system and installation of land facilities are scheduled for the following year. The Galileo system, which is expected to become fully operational in 2008, will rely on thirty satellites in circular orbit, positioned at a height of 24,000 km and controlled by fifteen fixed terrestrial stations, able to identify any object with a margin of error lower than four metres. Galileo will have civilian purposes, from telecommunications to the control of air and road traffic, from civil protection to the location of deposits of raw materials such as petroleum or natural gas.
