Proceedings of the Workshop - United Nations Office for Outer ...

156 EXPANDING GLOBAL NAVIGATION SERVICESPlanned GNSS SystemsThe European Union and the European Space Agencyhave proposed to create a global navigation satellitesystem called Galileo which would be interoperablewith GPS and would have the same reference system asGPS.4 Private satellite systems capable of providingpositioning and navigation service also are beingconsidered.5 Mobile satellite operators such as ICOGlobal Communications and Iridium could addnavigation and positioning capabilities to theircommunication satellites. Furthermore, several GNSSaugmentation systems are close to operability. TheWide Area Augmentation System (WAAS) will makepossible Category 1 and Category II flights byairplanes. A different augmentation, the Local AreaAugmentation Service (LAAS), will make it possible toland airplanes by satellite navigation (Category IIIflights).6 A European augmentation system, EGNOS, isclose to completion. Augmentation systems are beingplanned in other countries, for example Japan, as well.7GNSS Investment and TechnologyIn legal discussions GNSS can no longer be viewed asjust a navigation and positioning technology. It hasbecome a world-wide economic and social issue. Userswant access to GNSS. Manufacturers want to exploitthe market. Nations want the economic advantage ofhaving a GNSS industry. The stakes are high. The U.S.National Academy of Public Administration8 forecastin 1995 that by the year 2005 the GNSS world marketwould reach $31 billion, 55% of which would beoutside of the United States. In 1999 the EuropeanCommission made an even higher estimate,approximately $40 billion by the year 2005.9 Thelargest growth will occur in land transportation,10 faroutstripping the demand for GNSS in the aviation andmaritime areas. The United States currently dominatesthe GNSS market.11 Understandably industries outsidethe United States also would like to profit from GNSSand wish to challenge the U.S. market domination.Furthermore, labor interests would like to expandemployment into the GNSS industry. The 1996 U.S.Presidential Decision Document (PDD) estimated thatthe GPS industry would create 100,000jobs within fiveyears.12 The EU estimates that 100,000 jobs would becreated by the year 2008, if the proposed Galileoproject goes forward.13 As U.S. Vice President Gorehas said: GNSS “has become an engine of economicgrowth and efficiency as businesses and consumers arecontinually developing new and creative applications ofthe system.”14 GNSS development is aided by pricereduction of GNSS receivers which now are massproduced, so that price is not the barrier that it oncewas: a basic receiver can be purchased for $99,although sophisticated receivers are more expensive.Finally, the technology of the GNSS satellites isimproving as second and third generation GNSSsatellites and receivers are entering the market place.4 European Commission, Galileo, Involving Europe in a NewGeneration of Satellite Navigation Services, 9 February, 1999(hereinafter cited as Galileo)5See Boeing’s application to U.S. Federal CommunicationCommission for radio frequency to provide satellite navigationand positioning service, 1999.6FRP supra n. 2 at 3-11 to 13.7Larsen, GNSS Augmentation: Legal Issues, 40 Coll. on theLaw of Outer Space8 The Global Positioning System: Charting the Future, NationalAcademy of Public Administration, National Research Council,1995, at XXVI9Galileo, supra n 4, at iv.10 Galileo, supra n 4, at iv.11 Galileo supra n. 4, at 212 March 29, 1996, U.S. Presidential Decision Document13 Galileo, supra n. 4, at 4.14 March 30, 1998, Gore Statement