> Industrial News > News   China Convoyed by Compass and Galileo Systems   On April 23, the European Parliament approved the final deployment program about the Galileo satellite navigation system, marking the official start of development phase for the six-year Galileo plan. Galileo plan will go through two phases: the development phase from 2008 to 2013 and the operational phase after 2013. The EU will invest 3.4 billion euros for Galileo’s development phase to construct spatial and terrestrial infrastructure, including the launch of 30 satellites. On July 28, 2005, China signed three application contracts about Galileo plan with the EU and thus owned part proprietary rights and full use right. Besides the cooperation with Galileo plan, China also launches the Compass (Bei Dou) Operation and Service Platform. The launch of the platform indicates the large-scale application of Compass navigation & positioning system has entered a substantial phase. Comment: Galileo plan has encountered many turns and twists since the EU officially approved it in 2002. The plan co-conducted by the EU and non-EU states (China and India included) will break the monopoly of US in global satellite navigation system. On one hand, China is cooperating with Galileo plan; on the other hand, China is developing its own satellite navigation system to make contributions to the development of global navigation & positioning industry.   Time:2008-05-09 Source:NaviForum Shanghai News Center Relative