Building a Multinational Global Satellite System: An Initial Look

Book Description

• Author: Rosalind Lewis,Michael Kennedy, Elham Ghashghai, Gordon Bitko
• Paperback: 126 pages
• Publisher: RAND Corporation (September 25, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0833037358
• ISBN-13: 978-0833037350

From the Book

In the not too distant future, there may be a second global spacebased positioning, navigation, and timing (PNT) capability similar to the Global Positioning System (GPS). The European Union plans to begin initial operations of the Galileo PNT system in 2008. What effect this additional and highly capable information utility will have on global economic and security conditions is uncertain. Policy leaders and technical experts have been in discussion since 2000 to find cooperative means of providing users the benefit of both systems. However, some U.S. policymakers are concerned that Galileo will be a threat to U.S. economic and security interests.

In March 2002, when its initial funding was made available, Galileo took one step closer to becoming a reality. In August 2002, in response to a National Security Council request, principals of the Interagency GPS Executive Board (IGEB), a policymaking body established in 1996 by Presidential directive to manage GPS and its U.S. government augmentations, developed recommendations for continued discussions between the United States and the European Union. One month later, the Senior Steering Group International Space
Cooperation (SSG-ISC) commissioned a study on the business case and economic impact to the global user community of two systems, GPS and Galileo. The SSG-ISC is the key forum through which the U.S. Air Force/XO dealt with Galileo issues, and AF/XO asked the RAND Corporation to conduct this study. The study was incorporated into the 2002–2003 RAND Project AIR FORCE research agenda.

Galileo, as envisioned, is very similar to GPS in function and performance, and it has the potential to create new PNT standards in addition to the de facto standards that currently exist in GPS. The focus of this study was the economic impact of a competition that could result from the implementation and operation of Galileo in the presence of GPS. The nature of competition, in this study, was defined by three factors: interoperability and compatibility; strategies employed to foster Galileo adoption; and the schedules for GPS modernization and Galileo development. Our primary measure of the economic impact is net economic benefits to users of PNT products/services, which are defined as the difference between the users’ (consumers’) valuation of the products/services provided and the market prices of those products/services. The implications for the United States are linked to the conditions that warrant a U.S. response to a situation or opportunity created by Galileo.
This report should be of special interest to the members of the IGEB, the GPS Industry Council, and policymakers involved in international negotiation and coordination of PNT systems and information.

It was prepared for AF/XO within the Aerospace Force Development Program of RAND Project AIR FORCE.

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