Japan and the Galileo GPS project

Members of the Galileo project are keen for Japan, an important figure in the field of civilian GPS technology, to join the European Sat Nav development effort. They recognise that Japan is years ahead of Europe in the adoption of in-car and mobile phone navigation technology, and see the country as being an important test ground for the Galileo system.

So far Japan has responded to EU attempts to include her with blunt refusals, mostly due to her already good relations with the US and their GPS system. In fact Japan has now opted to launch a satellite system to compliment and augment GPS which they are naming the Quasi-Zenith Satellite System (QZSS).

Despite the Japanese’s lack of interest in Galileo, they will still be able to reap the benefits of the new system due to an EU-US agreement to make GPS and Galileo compatible and interoperable. When the European system is in operation, GPS availability in cities will raise from less than 50% to more than 95%. With Japan having some of the largest skyscrapers in the world, they will obviously benefit from the European system, but the country will miss out on having direct influence over the Galileo project without agreeing to a partnership.

Other non-European countries who have agreed to join the program include China, South Korea, Israel and the Ukraine.

To read other posts on the Galileo project, click here.