Lt. Col. Roftiel Constantine, Usaf
In GPS and Galileo: Friendly Foes?, Lt Col Roftiel Constantine, United States Air Force (USAF), analyzes the heated competition to provide service from high in the skies of medium earth orbit. The European Union (EU) is developing Galileo, its own global positioning and navigation satellite system, scheduled to be operational by 2010. The EU states that Galileo will provide greater precision to all users than is currently available from the United States’ (US) global positioning system (GPS) through improved coverage of satellite signals at higher latitudes, and, unlike GPS, Galileo will be guaranteed to be always available—even during war or political disagreement. Regarding the enormous importance of GPS to the United States and millions of users worldwide, the prospect of a second, competing, and potentially interfering global satellite navigation system could have serious military, foreign policy, and industrial implications. The US government would benefit from the heightened awareness of the risks and opportunities Colonel Constantine presents for the United States surrounding the Galileo program.
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