spacetoday.net: Europe selects finalists for Galileo

Posted: Sat, Sep 20, 2008, 9:38 AM ET (1338 GMT)
GIOVE-B illustration (ESA)

The European Commission and ESA have selected a shortlist of companies that will compete for contracts to develop and operate the Galileo satellite navigation system. The list, released Friday, includes two satellite manufacturers: EADS Astrium and OHB-System. The latter is partnering with British smallsat company Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd (SSTL) in its proposal to built the constellation of 30 satellites, even though Astrium announced earlier this year plans to acquire a majority stake in SSTL. For the launch segment only one company was shortlisted, Arianespace. No date has been set for the selection of the winning companies, but the overall Galileo system is scheduled to be fully in place by 2013.