Europe Reopens Galileo Bidding

[Satellite Today – 7-01-08] The European Commission reopened the procurement process for the Galileo satellite navigation systems, The European Space Agency (ESA) announced July 1.
    The program, initially envisioned as a public-private partnership, was restructured after a consortium of eight private companies charged with developing Galileo failed to agree on a funding plan. In April, the European Parliament approved 3.4 billion euros ($5.4 billion) of public funding for Galileo and European Geostationary Navigation Overlay Service (EGNOS) through 2013.
    The European Commission will serve as program manager and contracting authority, while ESA will oversee procurement and design. The work will be dividing among six procurement packages: system support, ground mission segment, ground control segment, space segment, launch services and operations..
    The system is scheduled to be operational by 2013.