Directorate General for Research

The Final Report of this ‘Study into Options for a Community Strategy on a Satellite System’ discusses the arguments and evidence supporting possible options on satellite system strategy that might be considered by the European Parliament, then presents technical information on current and future satellite system development and concludes by discussing relevant technical issues. The present and future satellite market can be divided into a number of applications including survey data, meteorological, agriculture and tracking, and more specifically air, marine and land transport. Most applications require specific levels of accuracy, signal coverage and reliability, and they are often safety critical. There will be a significant funding gap that will have to be met from external sources. All major projects have an element of risk and external investors will require to be convinced that potential benefits far outweigh the risks. Funding and pricing are important and issues to be resolved include investment levels, benefits and charging policy. Potential users include the community, states, industry, modes and individuals each of whom will have different needs and requirements. The technical part of the report includes the rationale behind the development of satellite navigation systems over the last thirty years. There are two main satellite navigation systems, one controlled by the USA (GPS) and the other by Russian Federation (GLONASS). Other satellite systems are used for telecommunications. Technical limitations are discussed together with augmentations that would enhance the use of existing systems, or justify the development of new systems to meet the needs of transport and other users. Current European developments are discussed together with the possible interface with GPS and GLONASS. The report concludes by outlining current and projected satellite system architecture. This includes the requirements by potential users for signal coverage, safety and availability to the mass market. The future development of a new system, or existing systems, should not be on a piecemeal basis but should embrace current technologies and ongoing user requirements. The report concludes by reviewing the current status of the Galileo project, the views of industry and users and the technical options.