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The European GNSS Agency (GSA) is hosting a special event on September 10 to mark the 15th anniversary of its creation. The Agency was set up as the European GNSS Supervisory Authority in 2004 to oversee the development of the European space programmes EGNOS and Galileo.

GSA Executive Director Carlo des Dorides welcomed special guests to the GSA’s Prague headquarters to celebrate the event, including European Commissioner Elżbieta Bieńkowska, Czech Transport Minister Vladimir Kremlik, French Space Agency (CNES) President and GSA Administrative Board Chair Jean-Yves Le Gall and European Space Agency Director General Jan Woerner, in addition to other EGNOS and Galileo stakeholders.

“Over the last 15 years, the GSA has become one of the key players in building Europe’s independent capacity in satellite navigation,” said Commissioner Bieńkowska, responsible for Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs. While participating in the celebrations, the Commissioner also presided over another historic milestone for both the Galileo programme and the GSA – the countdown to the 1 billionth Galileo-enabled smartphone sold.

Read this: GSA celebrates 1 billion Galileo smartphone users

Linking space to user needs

GSA Executive Director Carlo des Dorides said: “It is an honour and a great pleasure to celebrate this important milestone with representatives from all our stakeholders - the Commission, users, industry and other institutional bodies. Their presence here clearly shows that the GSA is delivering on its mission– linking space to user needs”.

“15 years ago, no one imagined how far the GSA and the EU satellite navigation systems EGNOS and Galileo would go. Now, no one can imagine Europe without Galileo and EGNOS, or Galileo and EGNOS without Europe. The GSA has been at the heart of these two programmes, accelerating progress in service provision, market uptake and guaranteeing operation security over the past 15 years. All that has been accomplished has been made possible thanks to the unique blend of expertise, dedication and commitment of the GSA’s staff,” des Dorides said.

Speaking at the event, GSA Administrative Board Chair Jean-Yves Le Gall said: “Today thanks to the European Union’s impressive investment, the European Space Agency’s technical expertise and the GSA’s outstanding commitment, Galileo is offering the best localisation available worldwide. The range of applications is vast. This is structuring our economy and the implementation of the public policies to ensure that European companies are taking full advantage of these fantastic services.”

Czech Transport Minister Vladimir Kremlik noted the importance to the Czech capital of hosting the EU agency. “It has been fifteen years of hard work and continual development. By chance it is also seven years since the seat of GSA has been relocated from Brussels to Prague. I am very proud, that the Czech Republic is the hosting country of the seat of such an important European agency with real global reach,” the minister said.

And this: GSA GNSS Market Report 6 – coming soon!

Looking to the future

Galileo will soon reach its Full Operational Capability, a phase that will require new governance to comply with benchmarked standards for the management of operational satellite services. It was with this in mind that the European Parliament and the Council agreed on a new EU Space Programme Regulation establishing the EU Agency for the Space Programme (EUSPA) as the successor to the GSA.

“In the new governance the Commission will continue to be responsible for managing the overall programme. The GSA, to be renamed the 'EU Agency for the Space Programme', will increasingly support the exploitation and market uptake of EU space activities and play an increased role in ensuring the security of all programme components. The intergovernmental European Space Agency (ESA), given its expertise, will remain a major partner in the technical implementation of the EU space programme,” des Dorides said.

Media note: This feature can be republished without charge provided the European GNSS Agency (GSA) is acknowledged as the source at the top or the bottom of the story. You must request permission before you use any of the photographs on the site. If you republish, we would be grateful if you could link back to the GSA website (http://www.gsa.europa.eu).

The estimated number of Galileo-enabled smartphones in use has reached one billion. This significant milestone has been achieved in the week when the European GNSS Agency (GSA), responsible for operation of the Galileo programme, celebrates its 15th anniversary, making this a memorable week for the Agency.

This is a truly historic moment for the Galileo programme. BQ pioneered Galileo use in smartphones with its Aquaris X5 Plus back in July 2016. Since then, market uptake of Galileo-enabled smartphones has been rapid as other manufacturers were quick to embrace the opportunities that Galileo offers, and there are currently 156 Galileo-enabled smartphone models available on the market. The ‘1 billion users’ milestone is based on the number of smartphones using Galileo sold across the world. The actual number of Galileo users around the world is much larger. You can track which devices, including smartphones, are Galileo-enabled on the UseGalileo.eu site.

Read this: GSA GNSS Market Report 6 – coming soon!

Today 95% of companies that produce smartphone chips for satellite navigation make chips that enable Galileo. According to figures in the latest GSA GNSS Market Report, which is to be published soon, global annual GNSS receiver shipments are forecast to grow continuously across the next decade, from 1.8 bln units in 2019 to 2.7 bln units in 2029. Most of these shipments are for receivers costing less than €5, and 90% of receivers in this price segment are used in smartphones and wearables.

Truly European effort

Ahead of a special event to mark the occasion, to be held at the GSA’s headquarters in Prague on September 10, Elżbieta Bieńkowska, Commissioner for Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs, said: “Galileo is now providing high quality timing and navigation services to 1 billion smartphone users globally. This has been made possible by a truly European effort to build the most accurate navigation system in the world, with the support and dedication of the GSA. I am confident that our space industry will continue to thrive with more work, ideas and investment under the new EU Space Programme.”

And this: French railways embrace Galileo

GSA Executive Director Carlo des Dorides said: “One billion smartphone users is a significant milestone and a major achievement for the Galileo programme and for the GSA. The GSA has worked tirelessly to build bridges with research and industry and create a strong community of service providers who trust Galileo and understand the technological innovation opportunities it brings. Chipset and receiver manufacturers in particular have been quick to leverage Galileo’s outstanding performance. These manufacturers believed in Galileo from the beginning, when Galileo was still an idea, and invested in the technology. It is thanks to them and the unique blend of expertise and knowledge of the GSA team that we are now celebrating 1 billion Galileo-enabled smartphones.”

Prague celebrations

The 1-billionth smartphone milestone is being celebrated at a special event to mark the GSA’s 15th anniversary at the Agency’s Prague headquarters on September 10. The event is being attended by European Commissioner Elżbieta Bieńkowska, Czech Transport Minister Vladimir Kremlik, French Space Agency (CNES) President and GSA Administrative Board Chair Jean-Yves Le Gall and European Space Agency Director General Jan Woerner, in addition to stakeholders from industry, the user community and research institutions.

Media note: This feature can be republished without charge provided the European GNSS Agency (GSA) is acknowledged as the source at the top or the bottom of the story. You must request permission before you use any of the photographs on the site. If you republish, we would be grateful if you could link back to the GSA website (http://www.gsa.europa.eu).

The estimated number of Galileo-enabled smartphones in use has reached one billion. This significant milestone has been achieved in the week when the European GNSS Agency (GSA), responsible for operation of the Galileo programme, celebrates its 15th anniversary, making this a memorable week for the Agency.

This is a truly historic moment for the Galileo programme. BQ pioneered Galileo use in smartphones with its Aquaris X5 Plus back in July 2016. Since then, market uptake of Galileo-enabled smartphones has been rapid as other manufacturers were quick to embrace the opportunities that Galileo offers, and there are currently 156 Galileo-enabled smartphone models available on the market. The ‘1 billion users’ milestone is based on the number of smartphones using Galileo sold across the world. The actual number of Galileo users around the world is much larger. You can track which devices, including smartphones, are Galileo-enabled on the UseGalileo.eu site.

Read this: GSA GNSS Market Report 6 – coming soon!

Today 95% of companies that produce smartphone chips for satellite navigation make chips that enable Galileo. According to figures in the latest GSA GNSS Market Report, which is to be published soon, global annual GNSS receiver shipments are forecast to grow continuously across the next decade, from 1.8 bln units in 2019 to 2.7 bln units in 2029. Most of these shipments are for receivers costing less than €5, and 90% of receivers in this price segment are used in smartphones and wearables.

Truly European effort

Ahead of a special event to mark the occasion, to be held at the GSA’s headquarters in Prague on September 10, Elżbieta Bieńkowska, Commissioner for Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs, said: “Galileo is now providing high quality timing and navigation services to 1 billion smartphone users globally. This has been made possible by a truly European effort to build the most accurate navigation system in the world, with the support and dedication of the GSA. I am confident that our space industry will continue to thrive with more work, ideas and investment under the new EU Space Programme.”

And this: French railways embrace Galileo

GSA Executive Director Carlo des Dorides said: “One billion smartphone users is a significant milestone and a major achievement for the Galileo programme and for the GSA. The GSA has worked tirelessly to build bridges with research and industry and create a strong community of service providers who trust Galileo and understand the technological innovation opportunities it brings. Chipset and receiver manufacturers in particular have been quick to leverage Galileo’s outstanding performance. These manufacturers believed in Galileo from the beginning, when Galileo was still an idea, and invested in the technology. It is thanks to them and the unique blend of expertise and knowledge of the GSA team that we are now celebrating 1 billion Galileo-enabled smartphones.”

Prague celebrations

The 1-billionth smartphone milestone is being celebrated at a special event to mark the GSA’s 15th anniversary at the Agency’s Prague headquarters on September 10. The event is being attended by European Commissioner Elżbieta Bieńkowska, Czech Transport Minister Vladimir Kremlik, French Space Agency (CNES) President and GSA Administrative Board Chair Jean-Yves Le Gall and European Space Agency Director General Jan Woerner, in addition to stakeholders from industry, the user community and research institutions.

Media note: This feature can be republished without charge provided the European GNSS Agency (GSA) is acknowledged as the source at the top or the bottom of the story. You must request permission before you use any of the photographs on the site. If you republish, we would be grateful if you could link back to the GSA website (http://www.gsa.europa.eu).