It will begin operating in 2014 in Madrid, joining those already in place in Italy and Germany.
Spain will be home to the services center for the European satellite navigation system Galileo, a Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS), which will be located in Torrejón de Ardoz (Madrid). Its start up, scheduled for 2014, will represent “a source of direct and indirect benefits”, and will be a “competitive advantage for Spain”, according to the Minister of Public Works, José Blanco.
This Galileo center in Spain will perform various functions: it will act as an interface between the navigation system and the communities of users for open services. It will also have a commercial function, given that it is the only one with the possibility of private use, and be used to safeguard human life, given that it will cover the specific needs of the aeronautical and naval communities.
It will also centralize the functions of consulting and support for the developers of satellite navigation services and applications.
The center will employ between 35 and 50 workers, to which must be added the jobs created during its construction; this will represent an investment of about €34 million. Of this, Spain will finance €4 million that will pay for the initial feasibility study and construction of the building. The EU will cover the remaining €30 million, and supply the equipment and engineering for the center.
The center will join those which this European navigation system already has in Italy and Germany.
El Mundo.es