Second Galileo test sat now in orbit

The second test satellite for Europe's planned Galileo satnav constellation went into orbit at the weekend. The GIOVE-B (Galileo In Orbit Validation Element B) satellite took off aboard a Soyuz rocket from Baikonur in Kazakhstan on Saturday. The GIOVE sats are intended to prove the technology which will be used in the …

[amanfromMars]

Fasten Seat Belts .... Buffeting Turbulence Ahead in Plain Sailing?

"London MPs have expressed doubt as to whether the UK will receive value for the money it will pay, ..." .... which tells us more about what London MPs don't know than anything else which they might know, but then again one cannot expect them to know of anything which they could ITERate and XXXXPand upon cogently with regards to Space Technologies. QuITe what you may conclude they are best suited for, I would not care to hazard a guess for it would be sure to offend?

Fortunately, the Benefits are Real and will be more than evident as Time goes on and the Facilities and Applications available through ITs Satellites are MainStreamed/Deployed.

[jens moewes]

behemoth

you really like to use "behemoth" in your articles. The world seems to be full of behemoth - but in the end there can only be one behemoth.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Behemoth

[Anonymous Coward]

GPS off switch

In point of fact, the US made commitments some years ago to the UN not to "switch off" (Selective Availability) GPS due to the increasing reliance placed upon it by aviation and maritime uses.

In the UK, approved, non-precision, GPS instrument approaches are becoming available at some aerodromes.

In the event of a major war then things would be different but short of that there is no likelihood of GPS being withdrawn.

[TeeCee]

Porcine aviation clarification.

So, while it's probably still true that pigs can't fly, we now know that pure pork can and does.....

[Robert Synnott]

RE: GPS off switch

Ah, and we all know what great esteem the US has for the UN when the UN is being difficult, don't we? :)

[Red Bren]

Translation service

"London MPs have expressed doubt as to whether the UK will receive value for the money it will pay"

Translation: London MPs have expressed doubt as to whether they will be able to get their snouts in the trough!

Whatever the rights and wrongs of the Galileo project, at least any benefits will be felt by the UK as a whole, unlike a certain £9Billion black-hole of a sporting event

[Terry]

Selective Availability

First, DO NOT confuse SA with turning off. I don't know if it is possible to "switch off" GPS coverage. It may well be, but has NEVER been publicly discussed. As far as SA goes, I don't know if it is even built into the latest generation of GPS satellites. I wouldn't be surprised if it were, if for no other reason than the hardware is already flight certified and ANY change whatsoever must be recertified practically from scratch.

Second, IF SA were to be turned back on the accuracy would drop to a completely tolerable 30 meters. Not exactly debilitating for your average terrorist or motorist. Or even mariner. It would however be a serious threat to aviation. These facts will probably ensure that we'll never see SA again.

You won't often find me gushing praise on the US government, or most any other for that matter. But for MANY political and military and technical reasons it is irrational to build Galileo because one fears US control of GPS.

Galileo is a European jobs program designed to funnel MANY MANY MANY billions of euros into the coffers of "in vogue" corporations. That's fine, the US certainly does plenty of that. Heck, Angola does plenty of that too!! But let's not call it something it's not. There is no grand salvation of Europe in this barrel of pork. And finally, don't even dream that these "farm subsidies" are going to make a down payment. That will probably end up being 20% of the cost if you are extraordinarily lucky. But if they came out and said this was going to cost 1,000,000,000,000-1,500,000,000,000 euros and take 20 years..... someone might notice that this isn't such a great plan after all.

[amanfromMars]

What an excellent plan..... jobs for nothing. Are the chicks free?

"Galileo is a European jobs program designed to funnel MANY MANY MANY billions of euros into the coffers of "in vogue" corporations." .... By Terry Posted Monday 28th April 2008 12:31 GMT

That may be a Plan, Terry, but you have been careful to avoid mention of rogue, in vogue, co-operations, and what they may have planned, although the sentence could easily be construed to be a lateral reference to it and what would/could be, out of this world entrepreneurships?

I must say that I do like the sound of European programs designed to funnel MANY MANY MANY billions of euros into the coffers of "in vogue" corporations, if such rogues in vogue are the Pioneers of ITs MasterPlan, for there are certainly MANY MANY MANY MORE billions of dollars, looking for an Investment home/Safe Haven/Seventh Heaven, which could be used to make it a Zero-Sum Cost Euro Game. That would give Europe a Virtuallly Free Ride on the Back of Uncle Sam, who would though, also Benefit Greatly from ...... well, New Spaces Technology to replace all their old Tired and Hacked to Death Linked Library and Dodgy Source kit.

And it may be the case, that there is no choice option in the matter, with such Rogue Beings in the Drivers Seat, and being all the rage and a raving success story and, using Beta Sense, Sharing their rogueish raging raving success stories as a Micro Macro....... to keep them on the straight and narrrow/honest and true blue whilst ITs Template is embedded into Network InterNetworking Global IntelAIgents Grid Systems ......... for Servering to Mutual IntelAIgents in ITs Service, MuI7.

Think of IT as a Beta Service than has ever been Provided by the United Nations Junket.

[amanfromMars]

And talking of rogues in vogue ......

..... the best of them know their stuff and are way ahead and before their Time and in the Virtualised Space that is by their own IntelAIgent Design.

"Many well-meaning persons suppose that the discussion respecting the means for baffling the supposed safety of locks offers a premium for dishonesty, by showing others how to be dishonest. This is a fallacy. Rogues are very keen in their profession, and already know much more than we can teach them respecting their several kinds of roguery. Rogues knew a good deal about lockpicking long before locksmiths discussed it among themselves . . . if there be harm, it will be much more than counterbalanced by good." .... http://www.cl.cam.ac.uk/~rja14/Papers/SEv2-acks.pdf