Frustrated with the constant squabbling between eight companies planning to develop the Galileo GPS system, the European Union has taken complete control over the project and will be providing complete financing as well. The companies from France, Germany, Spain, Britain and Italy could not agree on a way to share the workload. "Ministers decided to abandon the public-private partnership and start again from scratch," said European Commission transport spokesman Michele Cercone.
Public funds were originally set aside to cover about one-third of Galileo, with the private sector penciled in to provide the rest. The total price tag has been estimated at between $4.59 and $4.86 billion by various EU institutions. The cost would rise should the project suffer more delays.
A German official said that if the EU had stayed with the consortium, the construction phase of the project would have cost $2.7 billion more.
Galileo would comprise a network of 30 satellites beaming radio signals to receiving devices on the ground, helping users pinpoint their locations. The US-run GPS system has 24 satellites.
A final decision on exactly how to finance Galileo is likely to be made later this year after Portugal takes over the six-month rotating EU presidency from Germany. It was yet to be decided whether the private sector would have any role in the construction phase of the project.
Only one of Galileo’s satellites has been launched thus far, it entered orbit in December 2005. The second satellite missed its autumn 2006 launch date after it short-circuited during final testing.
Frustrated with the constant squabbling between eight companies planning to develop the Galileo GPS system, the European Union has taken complete control over the project and will be providing complete financing as well. The companies from France, Germany, Spain, Britain and Italy could not agree on a way to share the workload. "Ministers decided to abandon the public-private partnership and start again from scratch," said European Commission transport spokesman Michele Cercone.
