U.S. Officials Cite Concerns about Planned European Satellite System

(Say Galileo and GPS should be interoperable) (960)
By Jim Fuller


Washington File Science Writer


Washington -- U.S. officials say the United States wants to cooperate
with Europe to ensure a planned European satellite navigation system
called Galileo can operate without interference alongside a U.S.
satellite system currently providing positioning information to users
around the world.


Ralph Braibanti, director of the State Department's Space and Advanced
Technology Staff, and Scott Pace, deputy director at the White House
Office of Science and Technology Policy, said a U.S. delegation is
continuing talks with officials of the European Commission (EC) to
reach an agreement. The officials spoke during a digital video
conference (DVC) with Spain on February 12.


Braibanti said it's true that the United States sees "no compelling
need" for Galileo because it is believed that the U.S. satellite-based
navigation system -- called the Global Positioning System (GPS) --
will meet the needs of the global user community for the foreseeable
future.

"But if Europe, for its own reasons, decides to go forward with
Galileo, we would be interested in cooperating with Europe to ensure
that it is interoperable with GPS," he said. "And to that end we have
proposed an agreement on GPS-Galileo cooperation.

"At this point ... it's too early to know whether a solid basis for
cooperation exists. That will only become clear as we move forward
with more detailed talks throughout the rest of the year."

GPS, a radio-navigation system formed from a constellation of 24
satellites and their ground stations, allows users to calculate
positions accurate to a matter of meters. Informational Web sites on
GPS include the following: http://www.igeb.gov (U.S. government
management of GPS); http://gpshome.ssc.nasa.gov (GPS applications
around the world); http://www.navcen.uscg.gov (U.S. Coast Guard
information for civil users); http://gps.losangeles.af.mil (latest
developments by joint program office).

While originally intended for military applications, the U.S.
government made the system available for civilian use in the 1980s.
The government continues to operate, maintain and provide basic GPS
signals worldwide, free of user fees, and today the system is finding
its way into cars, boats, planes, construction equipment, farm
machinery and even laptop computers.

The Galileo project calls for designing, developing and launching a
network of 30 satellites that would reduce Europe's dependency on the
GPS system. It is estimated Galileo would cost about $3.2 billion
[$3,200 million] and provide Europe with its own system of radio
navigation beginning in 2008.

The United States, however, has raised a number of issues concerning
the way Galileo would operate. One issue is that the EC is considering
private funding as one way to generate revenue to help pay for
Galileo.

"It's not immediately obvious why users in Europe or elsewhere would
pay voluntarily for Galileo services when they can get the GPS signals
for free," Braibanti said.

He said U.S. officials are concerned that European policy makers "may
be tempted" to mandate the use of Galileo or require its use for
certain purposes -- a situation that would not be beneficial for U.S.
or European users.

"It raises various kinds of potential trade-related issues that could
arise in the future," Braibanti said. "So we have been trying to
discourage mandating the use of Galileo in a way that would
discriminate against users."

Pace said, for example, that a user who has GPS on a boat or airplane
should be able to go to Europe and come back without being "required
to carry Galileo equipment when he can get the same performance from
his GPS equipment."

Braibanti said that users should be able to choose whether they want
to use the GPS signals, the Galileo signals, or a combination of the
signals "rather than being required by government regulations or
standard setting to do so."

Another concern is whether Galileo would interfere with GPS signals,
which raises security issues. The U.S. Department of Defense recently
wrote to the 15 European Union defense ministers expressing technical
concerns about where Galileo's frequency signals would be located.

Braibanti said that in some cases the location of frequencies could
interfere with GPS signals that are used by NATO countries, including
the United States.

"This is a serious matter and ... we feel very strongly that there
should be no harm or interference to GPS signals because that would
pose risks to ourselves as well as our allies," he said.

Braibanti also emphasized that Galileo should be built in such a way
that it doesn't degrade the signals received by civilian users of GPS.

A meeting of the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) in
Istanbul in May 2000 authorized an increase in the number of
frequencies that could be used for satellite radio navigation in
general and for Galileo in particular. Braibanti said that having
separate frequency bands that do not interfere with each other "would
be a major step toward making sure the two services were seamless and
interoperable."

Pace said Galileo could go in one of two directions. One would lead to
a satellite system that augments, complements and works with GPS to
benefit European consumers.

"On the other hand, we can see ... where there would be attempts at
pricing and regulation and trade restrictions that would reduce
benefits for European consumers, and therefore reduce our own economic
interests in Europe and around the world; where there could be
restrictions and limits that would hurt the security uses of GPS,"
Pace said.

"What we are trying to make sure of is that consumers get a choice,
and that our own security interests and those of our allies are not
harmed," he said.

(The Washington File is a product of the Office of International
Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site:
http://usinfo.state.gov)