The EU’s fi rst satellite of the Galileo navigation program has been launched from Kazakhstan. The 600 kg British built spacecraft, named “Giove A,” took off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome on a Soyuz rocket early Wednesday morning (28 December 2005). The satellite is part of Galileo, the €3.4 billion system from which the EU is aiming to deploy a total of 30 satellites by 2010. The network will provide access to precise timing and location services delivered from space to the bloc’s member states. The Galileo project aims to revolutionise industries including transport and will be used in maritime, rail and other navigation systems. According to reorts it will help the EU to set up a new air-traffi c control system, allowing pilots to fly their own routes and altitudes. Giove A will test technologies needed for the other components of the project, like the in-orbit performance of two atomic clocks or radio frequencies assigned to Galileo within the International Telecommunications Union. Galileo is a joint project between the EU and
the ESA.
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The future Galileo Concessionaire has agreed the locations of the various facilities under its responsibility that are required for the successful deployment of the Galileo programme. According to this Agreement the Headquarters of the Galileo Concessionaire will be located in Toulouse, France. The Operations Company will be located in London, United Kingdom.The two Control Centres (Constellation and Mission) will be located in Germany and Italy as well as the two Performance Evaluation Centres supporting the concessionaire headquarters. Spain will host facilities that include redundancy for the Control Centres, and are related to Galileo safety critical applications.Furthermore, a new consortium of German companies will join the team, adding core competencies to the Concessionaire.

NovAtel Inc has announced that it has been awarded a contract by CMC Electronics Inc., to undertake development of a Galileo Safety of Life (SoL) demonstrator receiver for the Canadian Space Agency (CSA). The value of this contract is CDN$500,000.

NovAtel will develop a new Galileo E5a/E5b receiver section for addition to the existing Galileo Test Receiver, which NovAtel had previously developed for the CSA under a Space Technology Development Program contract awarded in September 2004. A modifi ed CMC Electronics CMA- 3024 Global Navigation Satellite Sensor Unit airborne receiver will be integrated with the NovAtel engine.