The European Union's Galileo satellite navigation system, a
rival to the reigning global positioning system (GPS) of the United
States, is expected to be operational in China in 2008.
The 30-satellite system, with a navigational fix accurate to
within one meter, will provide safe, reliable and accurate
navigational information for Chinese users in fields of civil
aviation, railway, waterway and road transportation, according to a
Sino-EU technology cooperation symposium in Nanjing, capital of
east China's Jiangsu Province.
China officially joined the project in 2004 and invested 200
million euros in a Galileo training and application research center
based in Southeast University in Nanjing.
The center carries out research on the satellite receiver, chips
and communication system and provides scientific training for the
Galileo project, said Li Jianqing, head of the technology
department of the university.
The EU and the European Space Agency kicked off the 3.5
billion-euro Galileo Project in March 2002 to develop a
satellite-navigation system independent of the US GPS monopoly.
Unlike the military-managed GPS, Galileo will stay under
civilian control, increasing the EU's strategic independence.
Israel, India and South Korea have also joined the Galileo
project.
(Xinhua News Agency December 7, 2006)
