GNSS System

Norway Joins Galileo Project

April 21, 2009

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The Norwegian government has decided that Norway shall participate in the Galileo project together with the 27 members of the European Union (EU). Norway is not a member of the EU. The Norwegian participation would cost almost 600 million Norwegian kroner (USD 93 million) over five years. The bill is expected to be passed by the Norwegian parliament in the course of this spring.

During earlier Galileo system design, Norway was able to influence the choice of the Galileo constellation, with the purpose of getting as good coverage in the Nordic countries as in Central and Southern Europe. Originally, the constellation was proposed to consist of satellites in both geostationary and inclined orbits, but after simulations carried out at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology in Trondheim the geostationary orbits were abandoned because of reduced performance at high latitudes.

Now, an agreement with the European Union has been negotiated, resulting in active Norwegian participation in Galileo. This will give Norwegian companies full access to bidding for EU development contracts, among other things, and is very much welcomed by Norwegian industry. It is assumed that this will be worth about ten times as much as the direct Norwegian contribution to Galileo funding.

During the Galileo development phase, Norwegian industry has also been very active, through Norwegian membership in the European Space Agency (ESA). The company Norspace has delivered frequency generators to the Galileo test satellites Giove-A and Giove-B. The company has a contract to deliver such equipment to the first four ordinary satellites to be launched next year, and has good hope to be selected for such deliveries also to the following 26 satellites.

Technology for the satellites is very important, but the biggest market is probably new user products and services. Fugro-Seastar is a Norwegian company today selling services based on GPS and Glonass to professional users all over the world who require high accuracy and guaranteed performance. They are very interested in the possibilities of the Galileo Commercial Service.

Kongsberg-Seatex is another Norwegian company with long experience in satellite-based navigation and position determination, above all in the off-shore and maritime field. This company is the main contractor for the Galileo Sensor Stations. It is decisive for the company that Norwegian industry can compete on an equal footing with companies from the EU member states in the future. One example of important future business activities may be equipment and services for search and rescue (SAR) in the vast sea areas to the west and north of Norway, also at very high latitudes.

News story by Borje Forssell, professor of electronics and telecommunications, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, and member of GPS World's Editorial Advisory Board. Also author of Radionavigation Systems from Artech House.

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