CORRECTED COPY: EU: GALILEO READY FOR TAKEOFF;

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 BRUSSELS 000046

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

DEPT FOR OES/SAT
DEPT FOR EUR/ERA

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: EUN TSPA TSPL
SUBJECT: CORRECTED COPY: EU: GALILEO READY FOR TAKEOFF;
2008 U.S.-EU SPACE POLICY DIALOGUE PREPARATIONS



1. (U) The following is a corrected copy of BRUSSELS 000042
for format corrections.


2. (SBU) Summary: Ken Hodgkins, State Department
Directorfor OES Office of Space and Advanced Technology,
discussed with uropean Commission officials U.S.
perspective on the future of GPS and Galileo Cooperation,
Europe's next steps in the development of Galileo, and the
2008 U.S.-EU Space Policy Dialogue. European officials
delivered the following key messages during the meetings:
-- The Galileo satellite navigation system has been
fully approved by both the European Council and the European
Parliament, and though the budget and timeline are tight,
Galileo should reach full operational capability by the end
of 2013. The European Commission will be the owner/sponsor
of the program, with oversight by the Council and Parliament,
the European Space Agency will act as contractor, and GSA
will develop future markets and applications.
-- The U.S. is a key partner in space, and the current
strong cooperation on GPS-Galileo and Space Policy should
continue and evolve as we move to the future. Specifically,
there look to be opportunities for the U.S. and EU to
approach global issues, including 3rd country space programs
and security topics, with a united front.
-- With the Commission's control of Galileo, China
should play no role in the technological or programmatic
development of Galileo, and will be relegated to cooperation
only on specific Galileo applications to be used in China.
-- The Commission will host the U.S.-EU Space Policy
dialogue in April 2008 and will deliver a draft agenda to the
U.S. in the first weeks of January. End summary.


3. (U) Director Hodgkins met in Brussels with Fotis
Karamitsos, Eero Ailio, and Jeremie Godet from the
Commission's Galileo Unit; Pedro Pedreira, Executive Director
of the European GNSS Supervisory Authority (GSA); and Paul
Weissenberg and Andras Roboz, from the Commission's Space
Policy and Coordination Unit.

--------------
Galileo Approved
--------------


4. (SBU) The European Heads of State formally approved the
financing and governance structure of Galileo during the
European Council on December 14. This paves the way for full
funding through 2013 when Galileo is expected, assuming no
further delays, to be at full operational capability.
(Comment: Fotis Karamitsos, Director for Logistics,
Innovation, Co-modality, and Maritime Transport in the
Transport and Energy Directorate, said that the schedule and
the funding are very tight, and though he expects that the
project can be performed on time and on budget, he implied it
is very possible that there will be cost and schedule
overruns. End comment.) The Council decision was just a
formality, as the European Parliament and the Council
meetings of the transport ministers and the finance ministers
earlier in December resolved all problems.


5. (SBU) A key issue during negotiations was the new
governance structure for the development of Galileo.
Director Karamitsos explained that since the financing is
coming from public funds, the Commission will be the
owner/sponsor of Galileo and in charge of most major decision
making, with the Council and the Parliament in an oversight
role. The European Space Agency (ESA) will act as prime
contractor and will perform the delegation of how to perform
tasks, make calls for tender, and will select companies as
contractors. GSA, which was created as the oversight body
between the Commission and industry during the time of the
now-failed public-private partnership (PPP),will remain in
an assistant role to the Commission. Karamitsos detailed,
later confirmed by GSA's Pedro Pedreira, that GSA will also
have responsibility for the preparation of future markets and
applications. It is not yet clear who will have ultimate
control over the day to day functioning of the satellites,
and that decision will be made closer to 2013. Karamitsos
explained that while the overarching governance decisions are
complete, there are still several details to be worked out,
specifically issues related to the handover of the project
from ESA to the Commission, and it will take until April or
May 2008 before ESA will be able to make the calls for tender.

--------------
Future Galileo Cooperation with U.S.
--------------

BRUSSELS 00000046 002 OF 003




6. (SBU) During the meetings, European officials all
stressed the need for continued close cooperation with the
U.S. Specifically, Director Karamitsos stated that we need to
publicize the strong cooperation between the EU and the U.S.,
and he suggested that a joint outreach event be organized.
With an eye towards the evolving relationship, during the
meeting with Director Karamitsos, it was requested that there
be further discussion about expanding the scope of some of
the Working Groups under the GPS-Galileo Agreement. Under
WG-A, Jeremie Godet opined that while the current mandate did
not include discussion of how to approach 3rd parties, it may
be worthwhile to investigate expanding the mandate.
(Comment: The aim of this discussion very clearly was to find
a venue by which the Commission could discuss with the U.S.
the issue of China and Chinese frequencies on the Compass
SatNav system. The Commission is very concerned about
frequency overlap with Compass, particularly as it pertains
to Galileo's secure PRS signal. Karamitsos and Godet both
expressed appreciation at U.S. efforts during international
meetings such as the ITU, but explained that they believed
bilateral pressure will work best in getting China to
cooperate. End comment.)


7. (SBU) Responding to the Commission questions about
Working Groups, Director Hodgkins expressed a need to ensure
that the Working Groups stay within their general themes, and
that it may be worth having periodic higher level meetings to
discuss the status and undertakings of each of the Working
Groups to determine if changes are needed.


8. (SBU) Jeremie Godet, while expressing that the EU needs
to keep a special relationship with the U.S., explained that
the Commission believes the U.S. will be the first
non-European partner to cooperate on the encrypted Public
Regulated Service (PRS) signal. However, he was unable to
provide any concrete examples at this time, given that there
are still internal discussions on exactly how the EU will use
PRS. The general concept as of now is that PRS will be used
by the EU primarily in civil applications with some security
missions such as peacekeeping and border control. (Comment:
See BRUSSELS 003421 for further information on individual
member state plans for the PRS signal. End comment.)

--------------
Galileo Cooperation with China
--------------


9. (SBU) Officials at both the Commission and GSA went into
detail as to the current state of the Galileo relationship
with China. Both Jeremie Godet and Eero Ailio of the
Commission explained that now that the control of Galileo is
firmly with the Commission, China's access to the
programmatics and technical information will be strongly
limited. Ailio explained that the Commissionneeds to develop
a "watertight system" for technology control, to include
possibly new export controls to ensure non-proliferation to
China. Godet explained that ESA created a problem in the
past, specifically with the sale of Swiss clocks used on
Galileo to China. The entire transaction occurred completely
within the framework of ESA, which has special exemptions
related to exports, and which would not have transpired
under the EU. Ailio expects that special contractual rules
will be included in the calls for tenders to limit the
possibility of technology transfer so that the Swiss clock
case is not repeated. GSA Director Pedreira expanded upon
that, explaining that China's cooperation forward will be
limited to support in the management of Galileo applications
to be used in China, and that no technical staff will be
working on the project and no staff of any type will be
working in Brussels. Pedreira reiterated that the EU needs
to adapt export control to Galileo to limit technology
transfer and information exchange. (Comment: Commission
representatives have implied in several conversations that
now that China is a true competitor with its Compass system,
it is not in the best interests of the EU to assist China in
SatNav development. End comment.)

--------------
2008 Space Policy Dialogue
--------------


10. (SBU) Paul Weissenberg, Director-Coordinator for the
Aerospace, Defense, and Security Industry, used the meeting
to focus primarily on the upcoming 2008 U.S.-EU Space Policy
Dialogue, particularly the opportunities for further

BRUSSELS 00000046 003 OF 003


cooperation. He expressed that while the U.S. and the EU
have a good history of working together, many of the issues
facing us now are global in nature, and the we should work
together to tackle these global issues. Prime among them
include protection of space infrastructure from space weather
and space debris or ionospheric interference for GNSS.
(Comment: These topics currently are what the Commission is
referring to when using the term "security" as it applies to
space issues. Security will be placed on the agenda for the
Space Dialogue, but only in a context that allows for further
discussion to identify specific issues with joint interest.
At this time, the Commission is very hesitant to discuss
purely military issues but has given indications that this is
a topic into which the discussions can be expanded in the
future. End Comment.) Both Weissenberg and Andras Roboz,
Head of Unit for Space Policy and Coordination, were very
appreciative of U.S. interest to discuss guidelines for
behavior in space and space situational awareness cooperation.


11. (SBU) Director Hodgkins advised that the U.S. submitted
to the Portuguese Presidency comments on the EU's Draft Code
of Conduct for Space Activities (See STATE 157671 for U.S.
comments). (Comment: Director Weissenberg requested a copy of
the U.S. comments, which were delivered by USEU shortly after
the meeting. End comment.) He also expressed support for the
EU initiative and that the U.S. was in a position to
cooperate and discuss the EU's ideas. Additionally, he
explained that the U.S. would like to discuss the
possibilities of cooperation on space situational awareness,
which will be placed on the agenda of the Space Dialogue in
order to determine specific issues of joint interest.
Finally, irector Hodgkins requested further information o
changes to the competency with respect to space outlined in
the Lisbon Treaty, which will be covered in further detail
during the Space Dialogue.

MURRAY
.