US and EU Cooperate on Positioning Capabilities

Recently, a panel of experts designated by the European Union and the United States determined that collaboration between the two entities is possible for the next generation of positioning capabilities.

Whereas the US already has had the Global Positioning System (GPS) constellation up and running for many years, the EU is barely beginning to put its own Galileo system online.

The new navigation system will take some time to complete, but the stage is set for cooperation between the US and the EU, analysts believe.

They say that the working group put together to analyze and assess the global, combined performance of the GPS Space – Based Augmentation System (SBAS) receivers reported an astounding success.

The studies were carried out using the European Geostationary Navigation Overlay Service (EGNOS) and the GPS Wide Area Augmentation System (WAAS), officials at the European Space Agency say.

One of the primary areas in which the new collaboration will function deals with making a wide range of aviation services available in both hemispheres. Important advancements in efficiency will become available as soon as Galileo is brought online.

The work group also established that using receivers for both GPS and Galileo is feasible, which means that the two navigation systems will become inter-operable.

Therefore, regardless of environmental conditions, the two systems could be used in any combination, or individually, depending on needs.

The investigation took place as part of the projects listed under the EU/US 2004 agreement on the Promotion, Provision and Use of Galileo and GPS Satellite-Based Navigation Systems and Related Applications.

Even though the Americans share their GPS with other nations, they only provide approximate location capabilities to non-US military actors.

This is why countries such as China and Russia, and also the European Union, are working together to construct their own navigations systems

At first, the systems would cover the states' respective territories, but all three are destined to provide global coverage in the long run.

The Chinese Beidou, the Russian Glonass and the European Galileo will give the GPS a run for its money, analysts believe.