December 30, 2005 :: MSNBC :: News
On Wednesday, December 28, the first satellite in the multinational Galileo navigation program was launched into space. The satellite, named “Giove A,” took off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan aboard a Soyuz rocket. Scientists plan to test its atomic clocks and navigation signals, secure its frequencies in space, and monitor how radiation affects the craft. A second Galileo satellite, “Giove B,” is scheduled for launch this spring. Two additional satellites will then be launched in 2008 to complete the testing phase, which requires at least four satellites in orbit to guarantee an exact position and time anywhere on earth.
Europeans hope that Galileo will end their reliance on the U.S. Global Positioning System. The $4 billion project will eventually use about 30 satellites and is expected to more than double the coverage currently provided by GPS. According to an ESA spokesman, Galileo will also be more exact than GPS, Galileo will also be more exact than GPS, with precision of about 1 meter, compared to about 5 meters with GPS technology. The Pentagon, however, has criticized Galileo as a potential security threat during wartime, saying its signals could interfere with the next-generation GPS signals intended for use by the U.S. military.
China’s participation in the program has raised further concern. The potential for countries’ using space-based assets as strategic instruments which could be used against the United States in the case of a conflict suggests the importance that America be conscious of the coming competition in space and that America be willing to compete. (Article)
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