Galileo, Ariane 5 and the International Space Station, underway

2003/07/01 Elhuyar Zientzia Iturria: Elhuyar aldizkaria

• Astronautika

The European Union countries pledged to remove the launcher industry from the crisis at a meeting in Paris in early June. They supported the proposal to reuse 'generic' pitcher Ariane 5, but will also promote new versions of the pitcher.

Proof of this is the program to increase the use of Arianespace services between 2005-2009. In addition, measures have been agreed for the restructuring and consolidation of the launcher industry.

On the other hand, the European Space Agency has unlocked some of the money needed for the exploitation of the International Space Station (NEE). This money was blocked until it was proven that they fulfilled the commitments made by the United States and was critical for the EEA for the ship that wants to build to use the station and transport the material.

Finally, they have reached an agreement to launch the Galileo project. Galileo is a navigation system similar to GPS, but civil and European. Thirty satellites will be part of the project promoted by the European Space Agency and the European Union and will be available in 2008. The project has been considered from the beginning as fundamental by both promoters, but in the European Union have been discussed so far the participation of each of the States. As a paid service, experts have announced the opening of an annual market of €10 billion.