Galileo funding

The european parliament's industry committee has approved the Commission's plans to provide € 1 billion between 2007 and 2013 to fund the final two phases of the Galileo satellite navigation system.

The funds will cover deployment and commercial operations of Galileo, which is designed as a complimentary, or perhaps competitive, service to the US military's Global Positioning System (GPS) and Russia's GLONASS system.

The main satellite launch phase of the project is due to begin next year, along with installation of the ground-based infrastructure. Commercial operation of Galileo is due to begin in 2008.