From: Ad 

George Sherwood wrote:
> Ad wrote:
>> http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/05/17/galileo_is_military/
>>
>> A civie system with mil users vs a mil system with civie users....
>
> I think this says it pretty good for me.  I don't think this system is
> going to make it.
>

We shall see.

I don't think the EU is in the mood to trust the US, Russia or the PRC.

Adam

> George
>
> http://eureferendum.blogspot.com/2007/05/will-white-elephant-fly.html
>
> Another of those perpetual mysteries, for which there seems no rational
> explanation, is the almost complete inability of the popular media to
> cover the EU's white elephant, the Galileo satellite navigation system.
>
> You would have thought, for instance, that the proposal this week of the
> EU commission to raise a levy on all GPS receivers might have attracted
> some attention, but no. Perhaps it was missed because the proposal was
> buried towards the end of its 20-page "communication" rather
than in the
> press release, which is possibly why it was missed by the specialist
> media as well.
>
> As an added twist to the whole sorry saga, however, they may have cause
> to look east, to Russia where, overshadowed by the EU-Russia summit last
> week, Putin signed last Friday a decree on the Glonass navigation system
> to provide the service free for customers. "Access to civilian
> navigation signals of global navigation satellite system Glonass is
> provided to Russian and foreign consumers free of charge and without
> limitations," the presidential decree reads.
>
> Furthermore, Putin has charged the Russian Federal Space Agency with
> coordinating work to maintain, develop and use the system for civilian
> and commercial needs. Russia intends to re-commission the service, with
> a full orbital group of 24 satellites ready for global coverage by the
> end of 2009, fully compatible with the US GPS service. A total of $380
> million has been appropriated for Glonass from the federal budget in
> 2007, on top of the $181 million allocated in 2006.

--- BBBS/NT v4.01 Flag-5