All 22 of the OHB-SSTL satellites should be in orbit later this decade
Europe's quest to create its own version of the American GPS system has taken another major step forward.
The European Commission has issued a contract worth some 255m euros (£210m; $330m) to a German-UK consortium to provide eight more spacecraft for its Galileo satellite-navigation network.
It takes the number of spacecraft now in production at OHB System of Bremen and SSTL of Guildford to 22.
It also keeps Galileo on course for completion later this decade.
The new contract was announced in London by European Commission vice-president Antonio Tajani, who has overall responsibility for the flagship EU space project.
Two other contracts were also signed that will make it possible to launch future Galileo spacecraft on Europe's big Ariane 5 rocket.
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GALILEO UNDER CONSTRUCTION
- Galileo is owned by the EU but is being procured by the European Space Agency
- Some 30 satellites are likely to be launched in batches in the coming years
- Galileo will work alongside the US GPS and the Russian Glonass sat-nav systems
- Europe's full system promises real-time positioning down to a metre or less
- It should deepen and extend high-value markets already initiated by GPS
- Some say economies are over-reliant on GPS; Galileo ought to make sat-nav more robust
"The new contracts reflect the decision of the commission to move ahead with this project at a fast pace," the EC VP said.
"With today's announcements, we are creating the conditions to start offering initial Galileo services in 2014."
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