China Galileo Industries Ltd., a state company owned by China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation, China Electronics Technology Group Corporation, China Satcom and China Academy of Space Technology, is authorized by the National Remote Sensing Center of China (NRSCC), the European Union-designated Chinese partner on the Galileo Project, to develop Galileo's satellite and remote sensing technologies and application systems.

According to a cooperation agreement signed by the NRSCC and the Galileo Joint Undertaking in last October, China pledged to invest in research and development on space technologies, ground equipment and application systems for the Galileo Project.

The European Union and the European Space Agency kicked off the Galileo Project in March 2002 to develop a satellite-navigation system independent of the US military-monopolied global positioning system (GPS).

With an investment of roughly 3.5 billion euros, the project will launch 30 navigation satellites, which will provide remote sensing data with resolution up to one meter. At present, the data resolution of GPS is only ten meters.

Chinese contractors said that the first navigation satellite for the project could be launched later this year.

Meng Bo, chair of the board of China Galileo Industries Ltd., said, "GPS is mainly for military use as well as for a little portion of civilian use."

Still a dual-purpose platform for global positioning, Meng said,the Galileo system will provide data mainly for civilian use in accordance with subscription contracts.

As the first non-EU partner for the project, China agreed to invest 200 million euros. In the first phase of the Chinese-European cooperation, China will spend 70 million euros. Aside from the five million euros worth of entrance fee, China is allowed to develop technologies and equipment worth of 65 million euros.

The NRSCC, a coordination body under the Ministry of Science and Technology, is mandated to choose domestic research institutesand companies to undertake concerned research and development.

Li Jiahong, an NRSCC official, said, "the cooperation between China and Europe on the project will be helpful to China's independent research on its own satellite-navigating systems."

The EU estimated that by 2020, the Galileo Project will bring Europe tens of billions of euros in revenues and tens of thousandsof job opportunities. Chinese experts expected revenues worth 260 billion yuan (23.6 billion euros) in Galileo systems applications by 2020.