Loading ...European GPS Rival Gets Go-Ahead
The European initiative to build a system of satellites rivaling the U.S. GPS system, dubbed ‘Galileo,’ is finally moving forward.
The European initiative to build a system of satellites to rival the U.S. GPS system, has finally been given the go-ahead.
Last Friday, European nations involved in the project agreed to build a ¬3.4 billion (US$4.9 billion) satellite navigation system, which the E.U. hopes will allow it to achieve “strategic independence” from the United States.
For the past several years, the troubled Galileo project has been attempting to build a 30-satellite system. However the consortium of European companies in charge of the project, have been squabbling over the ¬2.4 billion construction costs to which they were suppose to commit.
Political infighting and doubts about the project’s financial viability threatened to derail the project, and it has taken the last minute invention of European finance ministers, who have decided to commit ¬2.4billion out of public funds (mostly from the coffers of the massive E.U. agriculture budget).
Full Story Via PCWorld
Filed under: Business and Finance, GPS, Gadgets
