spacetoday.net: Galileo teams make joint proposal

Posted: Tue, Jun 21, 2005, 7:59 AM ET (1159 GMT)
GalileoSat illustration

Two industry teams that had been competing for the contract to develop and operate Europe's Galileo satellite navigation system have now jointed forced and submitted a joint proposal. The two consortia, Eurely and iNavSat, had previously submitted separate bids for the Galileo concession, but European Commission and ESA officials evaluating the proposals were unable to select a clear winner from between the two. Space News reported last week that European officials had been pressing the two consortia to combine their proposals. EADS, part of the iNavSat consortium, would take a leading role in the combined venture, according to the Financial Times. The Galileo Joint Undertaking, the EC-ESA agency overseeing the project, is expected to decide whether to accept the joint proposal next week.