A Chinese state-holding company signed a contract recently to develop satellite-navigating positioning technology for the European Galileo Project.
China Galileo Industries Ltd., a state company owned by China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation, China Electronics Technology Group Corporation, China Satcom and China Academy of Space Technology, is authorized by the National Remote Sensing Center of China (NRSCC), the European Union-designated Chinese partner on the Galileo Project, to develop Galileo’s satellite and remote sensing technologies and application systems.
According to a cooperation agreement signed by the NRSCC and the Galileo Joint Undertaking in last October, China pledged to invest in research and development on space technologies, ground equipment and application systems for the Galileo Project. The European Union and the European Space Agency kicked off the Galileo Project in March 2002 to develop a satellite-navigation system independent of the US military-monopolied global positioning system (GPS).
With an investment of roughly 3.5 billion euros, the project will launch 30 navigation satellites, which will provide remote sensing data with resolution up to one meter. At present, the data resolution of GPS is only ten meters.
