# Galileo (EU) > The EU's global navigation satellite system, built for European autonomy from US GPS, now the world's most accurate civilian GNSS and a pillar of European strategic independence. **Meta:** type: reference · date: 2026-07-03 · heads: · 3 takes · 1 lenses · 1 regions ## What it is Galileo is the European Union's civil global navigation satellite system (GNSS), providing Europe independent positioning, navigation, and timing capability. The European Commission owns and funds the programme; ESA designs and procures the space segment; the EU Agency for the Space Programme (EUSPA) runs service operations. Galileo operates in Medium Earth Orbit at 23,222 km altitude, broadcasting on multiple L-band frequencies from three orbital planes. It offers five services: the free Open Service for mass-market users; the High Accuracy Service (HAS), which delivers 20 cm horizontal and 40 cm vertical accuracy at no charge; the Public Regulated Service (PRS), an encrypted signal reserved for EU government and NATO-aligned military users; a Search and Rescue Service with a distress-acknowledgment Return Link; and the Emergency Warning Satellite Service (EWSS), operational in 2025, pushing disaster alerts to smartphones. ## History The programme began taking shape in 1999, partly in response to the Kosovo War, where European forces learned their aircraft and vehicles depended entirely on a GPS signal the US could degrade or restrict. The EU and ESA signed an intergovernmental agreement in 2002. Two experimental satellites, GIOVE-A and GIOVE-B, launched in December 2005 and April 2008, securing Europe's orbital frequency allocation before a rival could claim it. Four In-Orbit Validation satellites went up in 2011 and 2012. Initial Services were declared on December 15, 2016, with 18 satellites operational. A January 2017 disclosure revealed that 18 of the 72 onboard clock units (a mix of Passive Hydrogen Masers and Rubidium Atomic Frequency Standards) had failed; ESA managed around the failures through operational scheduling without taking satellites offline. The constellation reached 22 satellites by 2019, with further launches raising it to 27 operational satellites by late 2025. In November 2025, ESA completed a phased update of the E5 signal across 12 satellites, adding a Quasi-Pilot component that improves urban-canyon and indoor tracking. ## Current state As of mid-2026, the first-generation constellation has 27 operational satellites. The Second Generation program (Galileo G2) is in flight hardware production. Twelve G2 satellites are being built in two families of six: one family by Thales Alenia Space in Rome, the other by Airbus Defence and Space in Friedrichshafen. G2 satellites will carry fully digital navigation payloads, in-orbit reprogrammable software, electric propulsion, advanced atomic clocks, and inter-satellite links that reduce dependence on a global ground-station network. System compatibility testing completed at both manufacturers' facilities by early 2025. The first G2 launch aboard an Ariane 6 rocket is targeted for 2026. Galileo signals reach nearly four billion devices worldwide, embedded in smartphones, in-vehicle navigation, aviation, maritime systems, and precision agriculture equipment. ## Relationships Galileo intersects two live disputes in the knowledge graph. First, [the GPS jamming epidemic](/ko/n/gps-jamming-aviation-2026): Russian interference across the Baltic and Eastern Europe has driven EU regulators and ICAO toward requiring multi-constellation receivers combining GPS, Galileo, and other signals, because simultaneously jamming two independent constellations on separate frequencies is far harder. Galileo's availability thus functions as a resilience layer even when receivers nominally use GPS as primary. Second, [the Galileo-vs-BeiDou contest](/ko/n/galileo-beidou-pnt-2026): China's BeiDou consolidated to 37 active satellites and has drawn a candid US acknowledgment that GPS is now "substantially inferior" to BeiDou on accuracy metrics. Galileo's HAS service at 20 cm horizontal accuracy competes directly on the civilian high-precision segment where BeiDou is also strong. The PRS adds a defence dimension: EU member states are fitting military vessels, aircraft, and ground platforms with PRS receivers, creating a fallback encrypted signal that does not require US authorization to use. ## What to watch - First Galileo G2 launch and in-orbit testing results, targeted for late 2026 on Ariane 6. - PRS deployment timelines across EU member states and partner countries; the service is authorized but receiver availability is still limited. - Whether EWSS adoption by EU civil protection agencies reaches operational scale, validating the case for satellite-delivered emergency alerts. - BeiDou versus Galileo adoption choices in the Global South, where navigation system selection carries diplomatic weight similar to telecom infrastructure standards. - LEO-PNT complement studies: ESA and the European Commission are evaluating a low-orbit navigation layer to augment MEO Galileo resilience against jamming, following similar US and commercial initiatives. ## Regional takes (batched by bias / lens) ### official record - **EU Agency for the Space Programme (EUSPA)** (Europe, en) — EUSPA's authoritative overview of Galileo: governance structure, services portfolio, constellation status, and the agency's role as service operator for the EU's global navigation system. Source: https://www.euspa.europa.eu/eu-space-programme/galileo - **European Commission DG DEFIS** (Europe, en) — European Commission introduction to Galileo (March 2025): nearly four billion devices using the signal, 20 cm High Accuracy Service, Public Regulated Service status, EWSS rollout, and second-generation satellite plans. Source: https://defence-industry-space.ec.europa.eu/galileo-introduction-europes-global-satellite-based-navigation-system-2025-03-06_en - **ESA (European Space Agency)** (Europe, en) — ESA technical update on Galileo Second Generation (2025): 12 satellites across Thales Alenia Space and Airbus Defence and Space, fully digital payloads, inter-satellite links, electric propulsion, and compatibility testing milestones through early 2025. Source: https://www.esa.int/Applications/Satellite_navigation/Galileo/Galileo_Second_Generation_developing_at_full_speed ## Across the graph - Related: [[gps-jamming-aviation-2026]], [[galileo-beidou-pnt-2026]] - Entities: Galileo, European Union, Beidou, Gps Jamming, Esa --- Canonical: https://rbtfl.xyz/ko/n/galileo-dossier