Independence in applications

The Galileo satellite system, now under development by ESA, meets a perceived need for Europe’s own space navigation system. It shows why independence matters, in space applications.

Europe’s remote-sensing experts and environmental scientists have been able to put onto ESA’s Earth Watch satellites the instruments that best reflect their ideas, skills and priorities for tackling global environmental issues. And building satellites for telecommunications and broadcasting has become big business for the aerospace industry.

European companies have a substantial but not yet proportionate share of the market, so ESA continues to strive to make the share larger by demonstrating timely innovations.