GNSS Third Party Liability: the European experience of Galileo
- Paper number
IAC-06-E6.5.12
- Author
Ms. Chiara Lucchini Gilera, Galileo Joint Undertaking, Belgium
- Year
2006
- Abstract
One of the most discussed and controversial issues of the last years within international air navigation organizations, such as ICAO or EUROCONTROL, has been the definition of a regulatory framework for Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS). A satisfactory solution has not yet been agreed. In this regard, the divergence between the civil-oriented interests of the users versus the military-oriented interests of the owners of radionavigation systems plays a fundamental role. Galileo, the European navigation system, will set a new scenario: it will infringe the de facto US monopoly of GPS and it will change the user’s perception and expectations, in terms of reliability and guarantees of the different services, which are not currently provided by other systems. Opposite to the military orientation and centralized management of GPS, Galileo is a civil system developed under the joint effort of a variety of actors and financed through different sources. Under a Public Private Partnership (PPP) a constellation of thirty satellites and related ground segment will be deployed by a private consortium on the basis of the technical design developed under ESA contracts. The Galileo Joint Undertaking (GJU) is negotiating, on behalf of the European Commission and ESA, the implementation of the PPP and the terms and conditions under which the system will be operated by the private consortium. Negotiations will lead to the signature of the concession contract between a European Community Agency, the Galileo Supervisor Authority (GSA), and the operating company. This unique management organization inspires the public discussion on risk allocation bringing forward the process of establishing an internationally acceptable legal regime applicable to the Signal in Space (SIS). This paper aims at analyzing Galileo’s main sources of third party liability according to the activities performed during the different phases of the project. Particular attention will be dedicated to the operational phase of the system. The risk exposure linked to the transmission of the SIS will be assessed by service adopting a “user approach”. A possible scenario for a GNSS third party liability framework, shaped on the model of the International Maritime Organization (IMO) liability conventions, will be presented. The proposal will address, at first stage, EU Member States and those countries actively participating in Galileo, but it could later be seen as the basis for a GNSS international liability convention.
- Abstract document
- Manuscript document
IAC-06-E6.5.12.pdf (🔒 authorized access only).
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