New system likely following vote Global positioning system users are a big step closer to having a choice of providers after a March 26 vote confirmed plans by the European Union to launch a global, 30-satellite system to rival the U.S. military’s GPS.
The EU approved nearly $450 million of development and validation funding to bolster $566 million already invested in the project, called Galileo. The goal is to have a $3-billion, civilian-controlled network operational by 2008.