(Financial Express)
ISRO to launch Galileo satellites
CHANDRA SHEKHAR
Posted online: Monday, June 27, 2005 at 0107 hours IST
BRUSSELS: India is close to signing an agreement with
the the European Commission for participating in the
ambitious Euro 3 billion-Galileo satellite
communications project. The agreement is likely to be
inked in the next two to three months, said Nils
Weller, director general, Energy and Transport,
European Commission, while talking to a group of
visiting Indian journalists.
Although the Galileo is a joint initiative by the
European Commission and and European Space Agency,
countries like USA, China and Israel have already
signed the agreement with the Commission committing to
participate in the communication scheme. Apart from
India, the EC is talking to Canada, Russia, Ukrain,
Argentina, South Korea and Morocco for participating
in the project. Exploratory talks are also in progress
with the countries like Brazil, Malaysia, Australia,
Chile and Mexico, said Mr Weller.
As far as India is concerned, the EC is holding talks
with the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) in
the areas of cooperation. The negotiations are likely
to conclude shortly. India is likely to invest about
Euro 300 million in the project. The country also
hopes to get the contract for launching of satellites.
As many as 30 satellites will have to be put in space
to fully operationalise the Galileo project. Mr Weller
said that launching of only four satellites have been
tied up so far. It is possible to launch a few
satellites from India, he said adding certain
modalities will have to be worked out before such a
decision could be taken.
Talking about the schedule of the project, he said,
first two satellites will be launched in December or
January. The project is likely to become operational
by 2008.
The project, which after completion will be a
constellation of 30 satellites orbiting at an altitude
of 24,000 km, Mr Weller said, will allow the
possessor of a small receiver to determine his
position very precisely in the longitude, latitude and
altitude at any given moment by picking up signals
emitted by orbiting satellites.
Explaining the operating principle, he said, the
satellites in the constellation will be fitted with
atomic clock which will measure the time very
accurately. These satellites will emit personalised
signals indicating the precise time the signal leaves
the satellite. The ground receiver, incorporated for
example into a mobile phone, will have in its memory
the precise details of the orbits of all the
satellites in the constellation. By reading the
incoming signal, it can thus recognise the particular
satellite, determine the time taken by the signal to
arrive and calculate the distance from the satellite.
Once the ground receiver receives the signals from at
least four satellites simultaneously, it can calculate
the exact position.
The new system, he added, would have far reaching
impact on air traffic control, ship and lorry fleet
management, road and rail traffic monitoring,
mobilisation of emergency services and tracking of
goods throughout the world.
The Galileo programme, he added, was the first global
satellite and positioning and navigation system
designed for civilian use worldwide. The project will
feature full interoperability with the American GSP
and Russian Glonass systems, both of which were
designed for military purposes.
The project, Mr Weller said, will provide wider range
of services to users over the entire surface of the
earth.
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