Overfunding is delaying the European Galileo satellite navigation programme, although the deadlock could be resolved by year-end. Senior European officials close to the programme say Germany and Italy have been trying to outbid each other, hoping the more generous backer will become prime contractor on the first phase - a contract worth g1.1 billion ($1.1 billion). Galileo has g170 million more than it needs.
But Victor Aguado, director general of Eurocontrol, the European air traffic control body, which will be one of Galileo's main users, says the programme has reached the point of no return, adding that the meeting of the European Space Agency (ESA) ruling council on 11 December, and the European Union (EU) summit in Copenhagen on 13 December will be opportunities for Germany and Italy to end the stalemate. "If this happens we can sign the joint undertaking which allows the commission and ESA to bank money and select an industry for the first phase," he says.
Germany and Italy are likely to reach a trade-off based on unrelated issues such as who will host the European Food Agency. But suggestions that the EU might go ahead without ESA were dismissed by Galileo's management group, GISS: "This is a joint initiative," it says.
Source: Flight International
