Finance arrangements management

Galileo will be financed by both public and private funds. As the growth prospects of the products and services’markets connected with satellite radio navigation are considerable it will also be managed and operated in the form of a concession as part of a public-private partnership.

The concession period for the system covers the deployment phase and the operational phase. The private sector concessionaire will be responsible for managing these phases in compliance with contractual terms to be established with the preferred bidder in 2005, and will be overseen by a public body, the Galileo Supervisory Authority as per Council Regulation 1321/2004 of 12 July 2004.

The total cost of Galileo amounts to €3,2 billion, respectively €1,1 billion for the development phase (2002-2005), fully financed by the public sector (half by ESA and half by the Commission) and €2,1 billion for the deployment phase (2006-2007), co-financed by the private (the concession holder) and public sectors (the Commission).

In October this year the Chinese National Remote Sensing Center (NRSCC) became a member of the Galileo Joint Undertaking (GJU) giving a further boost to its global pretensions. Official negotiations have started with Israel, and India, Brazil, Japan, South Korea, Australia and Ukraine have also shown an interest in becoming involved in Galileo.