Pulling the plug on Galileo
Europe is withdrawing its challenge to America's GPS — for now. Ongoing squabbles between backers of the satellite navigation system have forced the European Commission to shelve it, but it may reemerge as a taxpayer-funded project. Stephen Beard reports.
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BOB MOON: The European Commission is expected to pull the plug today on a multibillion dollar plan for a satellite navigation system. The Galileo project was supposed to challenge the dominance of the American Global Positioning System. From London, Stephen Beard reports.
STEPHEN BEARD: The European plan was to boldly go where, actually, somebody’s already been before.
Galileo was designed to rival America’s GPS. At a cost of $9.5 billion, the Europeans wanted to have their own system free from American control.
But the consortium of eight private companies who were supposed to put up half the money couldn’t agree on anything, so the commission says for time being it will shelve the plan.
Good riddance says Barry Fox of New Scientist Magazine.
BARRY FOX: The idea that Europe needs something simply because it’s European seems absolutely ridiculous. And that clearly is why the manufacturers who are supposed to be paying part of the cost have decided that they don’t want to pay part of the cost.
The commission insists that Galileo isn’t dead and might now be 100 percent funded by the taxpayer.
In London, this is Stephen Beard for Marketplace.