Space policy to boost economy
© European Space Agency. A. Le Floc'h.
02/12/2010
Europe remains committed to further development of its space projects. This is the main message from the 7th Space Council (EU and the European Space Agency) held on 25 November in Brussels.
Reliable and accurate space infrastructure, such as satellite navigation systems, is vital for the transport sector, and is increasingly used in many other areas of everyday life such as agriculture and health care. Space technology therefore provides numerous opportunities for increasing Europe's competitiveness and innovation.
The Council confirmed it will continue to support implementation of the "flagship" space projects. Therefore, the ministers asked the Commission to "examine how to support the period 2011–2013".
One of these EU flagship projects is Galileo (the European satellite navigation system). When fully operational, Galileo will consist of 30 satellites and will be able to provide positioning information with unprecedented accuracy.
In the meantime the EU, in partnership with the European Space Agency and Eurocontrol, is running EGNOS (European Geostationary Navigation Overlay Service) – a precursor to Galileo. This pan-European system provides signals with accuracy in the range of 1–3 metres horizontal and 2–4 metres vertical.
Such precision enables EGNOS to complement GPS signals by rendering them more accurate for users. In addition, it provides information about the reliability of GPS signals. This data is very important for safety-critical activities, such as landing aircraft and navigating ships under unfavourable conditions, and for controlling rail traffic.
It is also used for precision farming (e.g. to reduce the amounts of pesticides used) and has been employed for guiding blind pedestrians on the street. In addition, EGNOS is capable of providing a reliable time standard, which is essential for telecommunication and computer networks and, for instance, for stock markets.
More information:
Press release (pdf)
Webcast press conference
European Space Agency: www.esa.int