Dow Jones reported March 15 that German Transport Minister Manfred Stolpe has expressed concern with the transparency of the bidding process for the Galileo concession. Galileo is a satellite-based navigation system being launched by the European Union.

The Galileo Joint Undertaking, a company formed to award the Galileo concession to the consortium that will operate the satellite navigation system, was supposed to announce the winning bidder between the two consortia competing for the concession at the beginning of this month, but it delayed that announcement. There has been speculation that the GJU is looking to issue one contract to the two combined consortia–Eurley (led by Alcatel, Finmeccanica and Hispasat) and iNavSat (led by EADS Space, Inmarsat and Thales).

Please see the March 21 issue of Satellite News for an update on the Galileo bidding, including an interview with GJU Director Rainer Grohe. For more information about subscribing to Access Intelligence’s satellite industry news and information products, please visit us on the Web at https://www.satellitetoday.com.