China Galileo Industries Ltd. has been officially appointed to
handle China's participation in the European-based Galileo Project,
according to an agreement signed Wednesday in Beijing by China
Galileo and the National Remote
Sensing Center of China.
Four other companies jointly form China Galileo: China Aerospace
Science and Industry Corporation (CASIC),
China Electronics Technology Group Corporation, China Satcom and the
Chinese Academy of Space Technology.
The four companies will help promote cooperation with the
European Union in commercializing the civilian use of the Galileo
satellite navigation system in China. They will also build an
intelligent transport system based on information provided by
Galileo, according to Yin Xingliang, general manager of CASIC.
"Today's agreement is a step past the one that was reached late
last year between China and the EU," said Zhang Guocheng, director
of the National Remote Sensing Center, at Wednesday's signing
ceremony.
China Galileo will mobilize domestic companies specializing in
space, electronics and satellite technology to develop the civilian
use of the Galileo system, said the company's chairman, Meng
Bo.
It will also work closely with European Galileo Industries on
future programs, according to Meng.
China officially joined the Galileo Project last October when it
signed a technological agreement with the EU. The country will
build components both for the satellites and for ground
support.
Firms in some participating EU countries have already set up
joint ventures with CASIC and other Chinese corporations to
manufacture navigation equipment in China.
The 3.5-billion-euro (US$4.6-billion) Galileo system comprises
30 medium earth orbit satellites and will be capable of offering
global positioning data with a margin of error of less than 10
meters. Designed for civil-use navigation and positioning, it will
cover a wider area with more precision than the existing Global
Positioning System of the US.
Galileo is expected to become operational in 2008.
(China Daily March 10, 2005)