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Yesterday, the European Union successfully launched four new satellites for the Galileo navigation system to provide a more accurate signal. It has taken the next step to make Galileo the best satellite navigation system in the world by 2020.
But why should you care about what is happening in the universe? Part of the answer is in your hands. Thanks to the Galileo system, the maps of your smartphone will be accurate to 20 cm where you are right. It's better than GPS. It also responds to the economy: just over 75 million mobile phones were sold last year to use Galileo services
. However, Galileo offers more than just maps and apps. Its signals are used in modern banking, satellite television or in the management of road or rail transport. The data that it provides can help us find what floor the call is calling
In the future, satellite navigation will be lacking in any autonomous car system or artificial intelligence . And that's just the beginning. Galileo will lead to a number of new applications and services that we can not imagine today
In addition to these practical uses, Galileo is a strategic project for Europe that ensures its autonomy and independence, they are used for economic or military purposes. Investing in this program helps us to follow the United States and not let Russia or China go
Galileo is part of our space effort. Europe has also developed the world's best Earth observation program, Copernicus. Thanks to him, we can observe our planet, its atmosphere, its oceans and its continents. With the seven orbiting satellites that will soon become the world's second largest data provider
Copernicus also provides us with free, open and continuous access to the most accurate climatic and environmental data. These data are used in rescue operations during forest fires, floods, hurricanes and earthquakes.
Its satellites help us in precision farming or monitoring of climate change and environmental pollution in cities. But we want to go further and make Copernicus a global unit for monitoring compliance with the Paris Agreement on Climate Change
Copernicus will provide Europe with the necessary technology to consolidate its leadership in the fight against climate change. Thanks to the Galileo and Copernicus programs, Europe has become a true space superpower, the second largest in the world.
The space sector is undergoing enormous changes, from the arrival of new players to advanced technologies and new business approaches. We must keep pace and invest in space, establish a new approach and exploit synergies with security and defense applications
This forms the basis of the European Commission's proposals for a new space program for EU which should be booked after 2020 16 billion euros. Galileo and Copernicus will become larger, better and stronger
New security features such as secure satellite communications and space surveillance and surveillance systems will be developed. We will support Europe's autonomous approach to space and help start-ups in this sector to flourish and grow
Space policy is an excellent example of successful European cooperation. No Member State would achieve such success alone. For the future, we must continue the projects we have already launched
With the Commission's space program after 2020, the Member States and the European Parliament have the opportunity to support our efforts to maintain the leadership of the EU in space – for Europe and for us
This comment was written by Elżbieta Bieńkowska, European Commissioner for Internal Market, Industry, Trade and Industry Enterprise and Small Business
For more information on European topics, see www.europa.eu [19659003]
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