News reports from France last week stated that the two remaining consortiums bidding for the contract to build and operate the European Union’s Galileo satellite navigation system have been given the green light to unify their bids into a single offer for the concession award.

French newspaper Le Figaro quoted a spokesman for the Galileo Joint Undertaking (GJU), the organization formed to select the winner of the Galileo concession, as saying the GJU gave iNavSat (led by EADS, Thales and Inmarsat) and Eurely (led by Alcatel, Finmeccanica and Hispasat) authorization to talk to each other and submit a consolidated proposal.

The move comes with no surprise as industry observers predicted the GJU would award a single contract to a unified consortium after failed to name a concession winner on its March 1 deadline (SN, March 7, p. 1).