Effort seeks end to dependence on US military system
BERLIN -- The European Union yesterday launched the first satellite in its ambitious Galileo global positioning system, directly challenging the American military's dominance over strategically and commercially critical satellite-guided navigational systems.
''The satellite is up in space and transmitting signals," said Franco Bonacina, spokesman for the European Space Agency, shortly after the unit hurtled into space atop a Soyuz booster launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome on the steppes of Kazakhstan.
Scientists and journalists in Europe monitored the launch on computer linkups through the space agency's headquarters in Paris. The Galileo system is Europe's largest ongoing space project.
''This is an important step for Europe," Bonacina said. ''It's a tool that Europe is giving itself that will be independent of the American system, although it will be [technologically] compatible with the American system."
The $4.3 billion civilian program will eventually hoist 30 satellites into space, ending Europe's dependence on global positioning systems controlled by the US military.
Expected to be operational by 2008 and completed by 2010, the Galileo system will be more precise than its American counterpart, capable of providing ''real time" positioning with an accuracy of within 3 feet, compared to roughly 16 feet for the American global positioning system available for civilian use. A frequent criticism of the US system is that positioning signals accessible by individuals, businesses, and nonmilitary government agencies -- such as police or rescue units -- are less precise than the frequencies available to US military and intelligence services.
Liftoff from the central Asian space complex occurred at 5:19 a.m. Greenwich Mean Time, according to the European Space Agency. The 1,322-pound satellite, named Giove A -- for Galileo In-Orbit Validation Element -- went into orbit 14,430 miles into space.
The satellite carried high-precision atomic clocks and ''signal-generation" units for testing. The main purposes of the mission are to send navigational signals to stake out frequencies for the Galileo program, assess the effects of radiation on equipment that will be carried by operational satellites, and perform trials on guidance gear. A second test satellite, Giove B, will be launched in the spring.
''The launch of Giove is proof that Europe can deliver ambitious projects to the benefit of its citizens and companies," European Transport Minister Jacques Barrot said in a statement from Brussels. ''Radio navigation based on Galileo will become a feature of everyday life, helping with everything from [avoiding] traffic jams to tracking dangerous cargoes."
The European Space Agency reckons that the global market for satellite navigation services will expand to some 3 billion users by 2020, a gigantic number largely reflecting expectations that the technology will soon be incorporated into cellphones and other everyday devices. The ultimate aim of the Galileo program, which has received support from European aerospace companies, is to ensure that the continent is a major player in a field with great commercial potential, one expected to create 140,000 jobs in Europe in the next decade.Continued...
Plans are already afoot to use the Galileo positioning in a new European air traffic control system. Other uses range from the close tracking of transport trucks to tiny earpieces that would enable blind people to find their way through busy urban centers.
According to Bonacina, the Galileo system will be so precise -- and so ''on time" -- that ambulances rushing to accident scenes will receive instructions on when to shift lanes for maximum speed. By the end of the decade, analysts predict that all new cellphones will include satellite guidance systems enabling users to pinpoint nearby ATMs, hospitals, or restaurants.
European have fretted that international satellite navigation technology relies too much on the United States. President Bush warned last year that global positioning satellites might be shut down during times of national crisis to prevent terrorists from using the technology. Such a move would wreak havoc on the operations of European shipping companies and other businesses highly dependent on the global positioning navigation system.
The EU has pledged that the Galileo system will never be switched off for military reasons.
''Galileo is made in Europe by Europeans," said Bonacina. ''If the Americans want to scramble GPS, they can do it whenever they want."
European critics of the program call it an exercise in political vanity. They have noted that the American globe positioning system is free of charge, highly efficient, and scheduled for major technical upgrades in the near future.
The Pentagon initially objected to the European project, warning that Galileo's signals might interfere with advanced satellite systems under development by the US military and could even represent a security threat in wartime. Last year, however, the EU and United States ended the dispute, ensuring the European system would be compatible with American navigational equipment -- meaning users will be switched automatically from the global positioning system to Galileo systems, depending on which transmits most clearly.
''The satellite is demonstrating critical technology. which is flying now for the first time," said Sylvain Loddo, systems manager for the project. ''This launch is key for the performance of the future Galileo system."
No comments:
Post a Comment