iNavSat team offers a 40 partner portfolio to Galileo Concession

Brussels, 25 January 2005

Over 40 international partners have joined the iNavSat consortium, created to win the Galileo Concession for global satellite services. These associated partners are ready to provide equipment and services to a significant global user base, with outstanding economic prospects. Established in more than 15 countries in Europe and the rest of the world, the team has extensive expertise either in infrastructure, technology, operations and services or market applications. Their activities cover user location based services, automotive, maritime, aviation industries, logistics, information technology, cartography, security and governmental use.

iNavSat consortium partners include: Arcadis (Netherlands), Autostrade (Italy), Boeing (USA), CASC (China), Deimos (Spain), Deutsche Bahn (Germany), DFS (Germany), DLR (Germany), Elecnor (Spain), Ericsson (Sweden), Ertico (Belgium), IfEN (Germany), Tifsa (Spain), Infineon Technologies (Germany), Insa (Spain), Kongsberg (Norway), Lockheed Martin (USA), mmO2 (UK), NATSNav (UK), Navteq (NL), OHB (Germany/Italy), PTV (Germany), Roskosmos (Russia), SAPOS (Germany), Sener (Spain), SES Global (Luxembourg), SciSys (UK), Siemens (Germany), SiRF (USA), Skysoft (Portugal), Telesat (Canada), Terma (Denmark), TriaGnoSys (Germany), T-Systems (Germany), VEGA (UK), Vitrociset (Italy).

The overall business case and the financial viability of Galileo has been assessed in full detail by iNavSat and is supported by 8 European banks, with some willing to contribute equity. “After reviewing the true differentiators of Galileo, the service concepts and the financing approach, we are confident that this is an attractive investment opportunity” said Michael Dinham, Managing Director Project Finance at ING. He underlined that: “ING Group is a long-term supporter of Galileo. We are prepared to provide significant financial support- both as equity and subordinated debt. We have great confidence in the ability of the iNavSat partners to implement this complex project. Our Space Finance team looks forward to adding Galileo to the €14bn of satellite transactions they have completed to date”.

“Our objective is to make use of lessons learned from existing satellite navigation systems, which mitigate the technical challenges and give the senior lenders more comfort for the deployment phase to be performed according to schedule.” said M. Ripple Director for the Galileo Programme at EADS SPACE. He continues “the iNavSat’s partnerships in the US and Russia ensure maximum compatibility on user level for the next decades”. Then combined with overlay systems such as EGNOS the users will see an unmatched performance concerning accuracy, availability and redundancy and hence give the users a complete new world of applications.” Indeed the EU-US agreement on satellite navigation co-operation signed in June 2004 paved the way to a long-term co-operation.

The European Commission has also signed international agreements with China and Israel and is negotiating with others including the Russian Federation, India and Ukrainia, and promising contacts have been established with Morocco, South Korea, Australia, Mexico and Brazil. iNavSat is eager to promote Galileo on a world wide basis as can be seen from the global presence of its partners.

The iNavSat concession proposal, which was submitted today, will now be considered by the Galileo Joint Undertaking (GJU). A preferred bidder should be selected in February, followed by the immediate start of contract negotiation – finalising the last key milestone on Galileo’s path from project to reality.
Note to editors:

The iNavSat consortium was founded by EADS SPACE, Inmarsat Ventures and the Thales Group, who are the respective European market leaders in the fields of aerospace, mobile satellite communications and navigation-based products and services. Together they bring an unmatched array of experiences and skills to the Galileo Programme. This includes for example Skynet 5/Paradigm, the first European satellite concession project, and EGNOS, where Thales is a key player for its development and Inmarsat satellites broadcast the EGNOS signals. They were joined by the three additional core members OHB Technology, SES Global and Vitrociset.

The iNavSat concession proposal for the Galileo Concession was submitted to the Galileo Joint Undertaking (GJU) today. The evaluation will lead to a long awaited preferred bidder selection in February through the GJU followed by an immediate start of the concession contract negotiation. After the approval by the transport council on December 10th 2004 to move to the deployment and operating phase of the Galileo programme, the preferred bidder selection will be the last key milestone to set the tracks for its realisation.

About EADS SPACE Services

EADS SPACE Services is committed to providing and developing satellite services in the area of telecommunications and navigation. EADS SPACE Services 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 €2.4 billion and 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 and employed a workforce of more than 100,000.

Contacts:
Rémi ROLAND
EADS SPACE (FR)
Tel.: +33 (0) 1 34 88 35 78
www.space.eads.net

About Inmarsat Ventures Ltd

Inmarsat Ventures Ltd is a leading provider of global mobile satellite communications services. Its services include voice, fax, intranet and internet access and other data services used by multinational corporations, government agencies, media and international aid organisations and other enterprise level users in the maritime, land and aeronautical sectors.

Contacts:
Chris McLaughlin
Tel.: +44 (0)20 7728 1015
Cellphone: +44 (0)7796 276 033
www.inmarsatventures.com

About Thales

Thales is an international electronics and systems group, serving defence, aerospace, services and security markets. The group employs 61,500 people worldwide and generated revenues of 10.6 billion in 2003. Thales has been pioneering in satellite navigation technology and is the only European company with end-to-end satellite navigation capability, from signals to products, to systems and services delivery.

Contacts:
Verena Adt
Tel.: +33 (0)1 57 77 86 26
www.thalesgroup.com
mailto: verena.adt@thalesgroup.com

Contacts:
Rémi ROLAND
EADS SPACE (FR)
Tel.: +33 (0) 1 34 88 35 78

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

Mathias PIKELJ
EADS SPACE (GER)
Tel.: +49 (0) 7545 8 91 23

Hendrik Thielemann
EADS SPACE (GER)
Tel.: +49 (0) 89 607 2 72 44
mailto: Hendrik.Thielemann@astrium.eads.net

Francisco LECHÓN
EADS SPACE (E)
Tel.: +34 (0) 91 586 37 41
mailto: francisco.lechon@casa-de.es