. 24/7 Space News .
SPACE WIRE
Finmeccanica says iNavSat, Eurely could form alliance to run Galileo
  • Parisians brace for flooding risks as Seine creeps higher
  • Volcanos, earthquakes: Is the 'Ring of Fire' alight?
  • Finland's president Niinisto on course for second term
  • Record rain across soggy France keeps Seine rising
  • Record rain across sodden France keeps Seine rising
  • State of emergency as floods worry Paraguay capital
  • Panic and blame as Cape Town braces for water shut-off
  • Fresh tremors halt search ops after Japan volcano eruption
  • Cape Town now faces dry taps by April 12
  • Powerful quake hits off Alaska, but tsunami threat lifted
    • ROME (AFP) Mar 04, 2005
     Finmeccanica chairman Pier Francesco Guarguaglini said Friday that he believed the rival iNavSat and Eurely consortia could tie up to manage the future Galileo European satellite navigation system.

    The European Commission announced Tuesday the two aerospace consortia had been retained to bid on operating the system, a 20-year deal worth three billion euros (3.9 billion dollars).

    Speaking on the sidelines of a conference, Guarguaglini said: "It seems to me that the European Union made a clear invitation to find an agreement."

    Italian group Finmeccanica belongs to the Eurely consortium along with Alcatel of France and Spanish firms Aena and Hispasat.

    The iNavSat consortium involves the European Aeronautic Space and Defence Company (EADS), Thales of France and Inmarsat Ventures of Britain.

    Guarguaglini added that the EU had given the two consortia three months to find a solution and that he was favourable to an agreement.

    He also believed that iNavSat members EADS and Thales were open to a compromise.

    "It is clear that we have to find an industrial agreement," he added.




    All rights reserved. copyright 2018 Agence France-Presse. Sections of the information displayed on this page (dispatches, photographs, logos) are protected by intellectual property rights owned by Agence France-Presse. As a consequence, you may not copy, reproduce, modify, transmit, publish, display or in any way commercially exploit any of the content of this section without the prior written consent of Agence France-Presse.