US and European Union near GPS-Galileo pact

The US and the European Union are close to signing an agreement that would allow their satellite navigation systems to work together to provide more accurate images and information.

Under the agreement, which the US says it expects to be signed this week, both EU and US satellites would send information on the same radio frequency, enabling receivers to get signals from both systems and combine the data.

The EU's Galileo system has yet to be launched, and the benefits of the agreement will depend on makers of receivers wanting to accept both systems. But one senior US official involved in the EU-US talks said that was inevitable.

"The market probably will drive dual-use receivers. We think probably that single (US) GPS-specific, or Galileo-specific receivers — the market will phase out in time," said Raymond Clore, a GPS-Galileo senior adviser from the US State Department.

"It just doesn't make sense to limit yourself to just one system," he told Reuters.

The US has 30 satellites orbiting the Earth, sending signals that allow holders of receivers to pinpoint their own and others' locations — as used in car satellite navigation systems.

The EU aims also to have 30 satellites up in space by around 2010, with a fully operational Galileo system by 2012.

The idea is that receivers getting data from potentially twice the number of satellites would be able to create a more accurate picture, especially in areas where reception is weak because of the urban or natural landscape.

The US is in the process of updating its GPS system — procuring new satellites that would be launched into space by 2013.

A European Commission spokesman confirmed that an agreement was on the table, but could not say when.

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