Posted: Tue, Mar 26, 2002, 6:14 AM ET (1114 GMT)
European transport ministers are expected to approve plans to fund a satellite navigation system during a meeting that begins Tuesday in Brussels. The transport ministers will likely approve several hundred million euros in funding for Galileo after a summit of European prime ministers endorsed the project earlier this month. Transport ministers had planned to approve funding for Galileo in December, a month after the European Space Agency approved their share of the project's funding, but delayed those plans because of a lack of consensus for the project among European nations. Galileo has been criticized by the US because of the potential for interference with its own navigation system, GPS; Galileo proponents have turned that opposition into a tool to drum up support for the project within Europe. Total cost of Galileo is estimated to be 3.6 billion euros (US$3.15 billion).

Related Links:

•  AFP article
•  BBC article
•  New Scientist article