Europe plots course for funding navigation system

Up in the air: Europe's planned Galileo navigation system has yet to secure full funding. Credit: ESA

The European Commission is launching a bid to save Galileo, the continent's troubled satellite navigation system. It has asked the European Parliament to back its plan to foot the whole bill for the 30-satellite system. The cost would be some €3.4 billion (US$4.8 billion) over the next six years.

Galileo would see Europe break free from its dependence on the US-based Global Positioning System (GPS). But the project suffered a serious setback earlier this year when a public–private deal to fund the system collapsed (see Nature 447, 765; 2007).

If the commission manages to salvage Galileo, it would get the extra cash from surplus monies in the agricultural and administration budgets. Member states will take the first steps to making a decision on the proposals in early October.

Meanwhile, President George W. Bush has announced that the United States will permanently leave the capability of distorting signals off any future GPS satellites. This feature was designed to give the US government a better working version of GPS than civilians, but has not been used since 2000.