Latin America and EU find common space in satellite navigation21 January 2009The EU and Latin America are forging ahead towards closer co-operation in the field of satellite navigation. 
Logo © Latino Consortium Although Latin America has traditionally not been a major investor in the space sector, interest has increased significantly in recent years. For instance, a new GNSS station is planned to be located in Cordoba, Argentina, while Brazil, which has the most advanced space programme in Latin America, has seen investment in space research rise rapidly. The Brazil Space Agency’s 2009 budget is USD294 million. Just a decade earlier the country’s entire space expenditure was estimated at around USD120 million. International co-operation is an important component of Latin America’s bid to develop its space sector. It is also integral to the EU’s various space programmes, including Galileo. Since the end of 2005, the Galileo Information Centre (GIC) for Latin America has been working to raise awareness of the co-operation opportunities available and to promote collaboration under the Galileo umbrella. The information centre was set up under the initiative of the European Commission (DG TREN) and is coordinated by the LATINO consortium, a group of Latin American and European institutions led by Pildo Labs (ES). Its mission is to provide information, organise awareness-raising activities and facilitate interaction between Latin American and European players in the context of EU-funded programmes related to global navigation satellite systems (GNSS). A virtual platform was also established to promote information exchange between members in Latin America and Europe. “Interest in the region has been high. The LATINO consortium’s organisation of and participation in various workshops and important gatherings on GNSS technology has contributed to strengthening the role of the centre in the region,” explains Santiago Soley from Pildo who heads the Latino Consortium and manages the GIC. “Many of the governments in the region – among them Argentina, Brazil, Mexico and Colombia – have clearly expressed their willingness to join and co-operate in the Galileo and EGNOS programmes.” Co-operation catalysts One of these projects, PROGENY, supports the Galileo development phase in terms of application development, mission and partnership extension. In Latin America as a whole, it is developing a simulation of how Galileo will improve navigation services, while, in Brazil, it is working on a hybridised train locator. CELESTE aims to build upon experience already gained through the European Geostationary Navigation Overlay Service (EGNOS) to produce guidelines and recommendations for future activities and projects to be carried out in the region, as well as to raise awareness of Galileo introduction in Latin America. Towards that end, it conducted a market analysis on the regional potential of Galileo-based applications to be developed in the region and now in its second phase, CELESTE focus on performing demonstrations based on the fLAre prototype infrastructure. The way forward Like similar information centres in other regions, the GIC for Latin America will continue to focus on supporting international co-operation and market interpenetration, as well as dissemination and educational tasks. In addition, it will gear its efforts toward ensuring a positive flow between European industry and the main regional stakeholders. Activities in the near future will include supporting the Galileo community’s infrastructure, extending the Associated Centre Network to cover the rest of Latin America, as well as assisting and coordinating Galileo-related R&D activities in the region. An ‘Industrial Information Day’ is now being planned in Brazil for the May -June time frame, with a view to establishing closer links between Latin American and European Companies involved in the development of GNSS applications. More information: |