iNavSat team offers a 40 partner portfolio to Galileo Concession

iNavSat team offers a 40 partner portfolio to Galileo Concession

January 25th, 2005



Brussels, 25th January - Over 40 international partners have joined the
iNavSat consortium, created to win the Galileo Concession for global
satellite services. These associated partners are ready to provide equipment
and services to a significant global user base, with outstanding economic
prospects. Established in more than 15 countries in Europe and the rest of
the world, the team has extensive expertise either in infrastructure,
technology, operations and services or market applications. Their activities
cover user location based services, automotive, maritime, aviation
industries, logistics, information technology, cartography, security and
governmental use.

iNavSat consortium partners include: Arcadis (Netherlands), Autostrade
(Italy), Boeing (USA), CASC (China), Deimos (Spain), Deutsche Bahn
(Germany), DFS (Germany), DLR (Germany), Elecnor (Spain), Ericsson (Sweden),
Ertico (Belgium), IfEN (Germany), Tifsa (Spain), Infineon Technologies
(Germany), Insa (Spain), Kongsberg (Norway), Lockheed Martin (USA), mmO2
(UK), NATSNav (UK), Navteq (NL), OHB (Germany/Italy), PTV (Germany),
Roskosmos (Russia), SAPOS (Germany), Sener (Spain), SES Global (Luxembourg),
SciSys (UK), Siemens (Germany), SiRF (USA), Skysoft (Portugal), Telesat
(Canada), Terma (Denmark), TriaGnoSys (Germany), T-Systems (Germany), VEGA
(UK), Vitrociset (Italy).

The overall business case and the financial viability of Galileo has been
assessed in full detail by iNavSat and is supported by 8 European banks,
with some willing to contribute equity. "After reviewing the true
differentiators of Galileo, the service concepts and the financing approach,
we are confident that this is an attractive investment opportunity" said
Michael Dinham, Managing Director Project Finance at ING. He underlined
that: "ING Group is a long-term supporter of Galileo. We are prepared to
provide significant financial support- both as equity and subordinated debt.
We have great confidence in the ability of the iNavSat partners to implement
this complex project. Our Space Finance team looks forward to adding Galileo
to the ?14bn of satellite transactions they have completed to date".

"Our objective is to make use of lessons learned from existing satellite
navigation systems, which mitigate the technical challenges and give the
senior lenders more comfort for the deployment phase to be performed
according to schedule." said M. Ripple Director for the Galileo Programme at
EADS SPACE. He continues "the iNavSat's partnerships in the US and Russia
ensure maximum compatibility on user level for the next decades". Then
combined with overlay systems such as EGNOS the users will see an unmatched
performance concerning accuracy, availability and redundancy and hence give
the users a complete new world of applications." Indeed the EU-US agreement
on satellite navigation co-operation signed in June 2004 paved the way to a
long-term co-operation.

The European Commission has also signed international agreements with China
and Israel and is negotiating with others including the Russian Federation,
India and Ukrainia, and promising contacts have been established with
Morocco, South Korea, Australia, Mexico and Brazil. iNavSat is eager to
promote Galileo on a world wide basis as can be seen from the global
presence of its partners.

The iNavSat concession proposal, which was submitted today, will now be
considered by the Galileo Joint Undertaking (GJU). A preferred bidder should
be selected in February, followed by the immediate start of contract
negotiation - finalising the last key milestone on Galileo's path from
project to reality.



Note to editors:


The iNavSat consortium was founded by EADS SPACE, Inmarsat Ventures and the
Thales Group, who are the respective European market leaders in the fields
of aerospace, mobile satellite communications and navigation-based products
and services. Together they bring an unmatched array of experiences and
skills to the Galileo Programme. This includes for example Skynet
5/Paradigm, the first European satellite concession project, and EGNOS,
where Thales is a key player for its development and Inmarsat satellites
broadcast the EGNOS signals. They were joined by the three additional core
members OHB Technology, SES Global and Vitrociset.

The iNavSat concession proposal for the Galileo Concession was submitted to
the Galileo Joint Undertaking (GJU) today. The evaluation will lead to a
long awaited preferred bidder selection in February through the GJU followed
by an immediate start of the concession contract negotiation. After the
approval by the transport council on December 10th 2004 to move to the
deployment and operating phase of the Galileo programme, the preferred
bidder selection will be the last key milestone to set the tracks for its
realisation.



About EADS SPACE Services


EADS SPACE Services is committed to providing and developing satellite
services in the area of telecommunications and navigation. EADS SPACE
Services is a wholly owned subsidiary of EADS SPACE, which is dedicated to
providing civil and defence space systems. In 2003, EADS SPACE had a
turnover of ?2.4 billion and 12,000 employees in France, Germany, the United
Kingdom and Spain. EADS is a global leader in aerospace, defence and related
services. In 2003, EADS generated revenues of ? 30.1 billion and employed a
workforce of more than 100,000.

Press contact :
Rémi Roland
Tel : +33 (0)1 42 24 27 34
Web: www.space.eads.net



About Inmarsat Ventures Ltd


Inmarsat Ventures Ltd is a leading provider of global mobile satellite
communications services. Its services include voice, fax, intranet and
internet access and other data services used by multinational corporations,
government agencies, media and international aid organisations and other
enterprise level users in the maritime, land and aeronautical sectors.

Press contact:
Chris McLaughlin
Tel: +44 (0)20 7728 1015
Mobile: +44 (0)7796 276 033
Web: www.inmarsatventures.com



About Thales


Thales is an international electronics and systems group, serving defence,
aerospace, services and security markets. The group employs 61,500 people
worldwide and generated revenues of 10.6 billion in 2003. Thales has been
pioneering in satellite navigation technology and is the only European
company with end-to-end satellite navigation capability, from signals to
products, to systems and services delivery.

Press contact:
Verena Adt
Tel: +33 (0)1 57 77 86 26
Email:






Contacts:
Rémi ROLAND
EADS SPACE (FR)Tel: +33 (0) 1 42 24 27 34

Francisco LECHÓN
EADS SPACE (E)Tel: +34 (0) 91 586 37 41

Dr. Christian W Erles
EADS SPACE (FR)Tel: +33 (0) 1 39 06 32 53



--
--------------

Jacques :-)

www.spacepatches.info