• Forum
• SITREP
• Military
• WMD
• Intelligence
• Homeland Security

• Space

• Introduction
• Systems
• Facilities
• Agencies
• Countries
• Hot Documents
• News
• Reports
• Policy
• Budget
• Congress
• Links

• Public Eye

EADS Astrium and Boeing to cooperate in satellite navigation

* Computer model will simulate mutual behaviour of navigation satellites
* Industrial cooperation follows political agreement

Munich, 14 October 2004

EADS Astrium and Boeing intend to cooperate in the field of satellite navigation. In the first stage, the two companies want to jointly develop a computer model capable of simulating the mutual behaviour of U.S. GPS navigation satellites and the future European Galileo system. This model will enable precise forecasts to be made of how changes to the overall system – for example, the launching of a new satellite – will affect users.

Representatives of both companies signed the respective contract on the sidelines of an international conference on the topic of satellite navigation in Long Beach, Calif.

“Following the political agreement, we now want to cooperate at an industrial level in order to exploit the enormous benefits that will arise for users all over the world through the interaction of different satellite navigation systems,” explains Evert Dudok, Director of Earth Observation, Navigation and Science at EADS Astrium.

This is the first cooperation between EADS/Astrium and a U.S. company in the satellite navigation sector and previews additional potential cooperation for both the Galileo and GPS programs. At the political level, the USA and the European Union signed a cooperative agreement in June which governs, among other things, the previously disputed issue of radio frequencies and paves the way for joint use of Galileo and GPS satellites with one and the same terminal unit.

“We consider international cooperation a vital element of our GPS program. The Interchanging of ideas and modes of operation, bodes well for the long-term mutual benefit of all participants,” said Mike Rizzo, director of Navigation Systems for Boeing Air Force Space Systems.

EADS Astrium is one of the most important industrial partners for the development of the European satellite navigation system Galileo. The company is the largest shareholder in Galileo Industries, the company that is to take on the setting up of Galileo. EADS Astrium, as a subcontractor of Galileo Industries, will both play the leading role in the construction of the 30 Galileo satellites and implement parts of the ground infrastructure.

EADS Astrium is Europe's leading satellite specialist. Its activities cover complete civil and military telecommunications and Earth observation systems, science and navigation programmes, and all spacecraft avionics and equipment. EADS Astrium is a wholly owned subsidiary of EADS SPACE, which is dedicated to providing civil and defence space systems. In 2003, EADS SPACE had a turnover of more than 2.4 billion euros and about 12,000 employees in France, Germany, the United Kingdom and Spain.

EADS is a global leader in aerospace, defence and related services. In 2003, EADS generated revenues of 30.1 billion euros and employed a workforce of more than 100,000.

Contact for the media:
Rémi Roland
EADS SPACE (FR)
Tel.: +33 (0) 1 34 88 35 78

Alistair Scott
EADS SPACE (UK)
Tel.: +44 (0) 1438 77 3698

Hendrik Thielemann
EADS SPACE (GER)
Tel.: +49 (0) 89 607 2 72 44