Are GPS and Galileo Brothers Forever?
This week is marked by significant negotiations that may decide the fate of one of the largest examples of international cooperation in space - the unification of the American system of global geo-positioning GPS and its European counterpart Galileo. The idea to change the European Space Agency project, which is still in the embryo, so that it initially harmoniously complements and is fully compatible with the already existing civilian GPS receivers has long been wandering along the corridors of various bureaucratic institutions. And right now, when talk of closing the astronomically expensive Galileo gained unprecedented power, the United States took the decisive step to save it.
It must be recalled why the Europeans needed Galileo itself. Despite assurances from overseas friends in eternal love and solidarity in the maintenance and spread of democracy, the EU has enough strength not to depend on the goodwill of Americans on such a vital issue today as satellite navigation. In addition, GPS was initially and remains the most powerful military tool, the right to use of which is usually seriously limited during armed conflicts involving the US Army in the entire “hot” region.
However, other less suspicious forces are not in a hurry to spend billions of euros of thrifty taxpayers on a project that does not guarantee not only profit, but also self-sufficiency. But the arguments of the Americans may well persuade them. Chief among them is a significant increase in the accuracy of the combined system in difficult places, such as business districts with a complex arrangement of streets and mountainous terrain. In addition, the American side is ready to take on a number of technical problems associated with the unification.
An important point in this story is that both sides did not say a word about the Russian GLONASS system, although its leadership has repeatedly offered close cooperation to both.
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via Register
It must be recalled why the Europeans needed Galileo itself. Despite assurances from overseas friends in eternal love and solidarity in the maintenance and spread of democracy, the EU has enough strength not to depend on the goodwill of Americans on such a vital issue today as satellite navigation. In addition, GPS was initially and remains the most powerful military tool, the right to use of which is usually seriously limited during armed conflicts involving the US Army in the entire “hot” region.
However, other less suspicious forces are not in a hurry to spend billions of euros of thrifty taxpayers on a project that does not guarantee not only profit, but also self-sufficiency. But the arguments of the Americans may well persuade them. Chief among them is a significant increase in the accuracy of the combined system in difficult places, such as business districts with a complex arrangement of streets and mountainous terrain. In addition, the American side is ready to take on a number of technical problems associated with the unification.
An important point in this story is that both sides did not say a word about the Russian GLONASS system, although its leadership has repeatedly offered close cooperation to both.
')
via Register
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/12361/
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