The European Commission (EC) is to underline its commitment to the proposed European Geostationary Navigation Overlay System (EGNOS) in a proposal on satellite navigation to be published on 21 January, rebutting calls from the Association of European Airlines (AEA) to move straight to a more advanced system.
AEA members are concerned that they will have to pay for a system which they believe is of little value. EC transport commissioner Neil Kinnock is scheduled to reply in detail to the AEA's concerns.
A member of the EC navigation systems section told Reed Aerospace publication Air Navigation International that "-it is fairly clear the European ministers have committed to some sort of EGNOS service. Beyond that, the options are to use EGNOS as long as we can and then go on to something different or, alternatively, to develop EGNOS itself".
The EGNOS is the first phase in Europe's two-stage global satellite-navigation system, the GNSS-1, and is due to be operational in 1999 to improve the accuracy and integrity of the USA's global-positioning system (GPS) and the Russian Glonass, using two Inmarsat-3 satellites.
The EC proposal will also outline Europe's need to first determine its position on the GPS and the Glonass, including the level of co-operation.
The European GNSS Tripartite Group of the EC, the European Space Agency and Eurocontrol agreed in December to conduct preparatory work for the definition of the GNSS-2.
Source: Flight International