European children will give their name to the constellation of Galileo satellites

(Press Release) The child with the best drawing on the theme of space or aeronautics in each Member State will give his name to a satellite of the Galileo programme. The first two satellites, scheduled for launch on October 20, will bear the names of the young winners from Belgium (Thijs) and Bulgaria (Natalia), where the competition was already organized a few months ago. On September 1, the European Commission launched the competition in the other 25 Member States in order to be able to name the satellites which will be launched until 2019. Children aged 9 to 11 can participate.

Antonio Tajani, Vice-President of the European Commission responsible for Industry and Entrepreneurship, said: "With satellite navigation, exploration of the Universe and space observation, the subject of space is of growing importance for citizens and for our economic future. We want to awaken children's creativity and see them become passionate about space and its opportunities from an early age. We reward this creativity by offering a unique opportunity to 27 children: to give their name to a satellite.”

From 1^er September to 15 November, children living in the EU and born in 2000, 2001 and 2002 – when the Galileo program started – are invited to draw a picture on the theme of space and aeronautics, scan it or take a digital photo and upload the file to the competition website. In each country, a national jury will choose the best design and the winner will have their name assigned to one of the satellites of the Galileo constellation. Satellite launches will take place regularly from 2012 until the constellation (expected to have 30 satellites) is complete. The order in which the names of the children will be given to the satellites follows the alphabetical order of the Member States in their national language.

The competition is announced in each Member State through press releases and press conferences, letters to schools and teacher associations as well as messages on educational portals. This initiative should also help to arouse the interest of pupils and enable teachers to tackle the subject of space and satellite navigation more easily in class.

You will know everything about the competition by going to the site http://www.galileocontest.eu/fr/competition.

Context

The Galileo program is the European satellite navigation project. It sets up a global satellite navigation system similar to GPS. Given the ever-increasing importance of satellite navigation applications for businesses and citizens, Galileo, by guaranteeing their availability, will ensure Europe's independence in this essential area.

In 20 years, Galileo is expected to bring 90 billion euros to the European economy, in the form of additional income for industry and public and social benefits, not to mention gains in terms of independence.

From 2014/2016, Galileo will offer three initial services thanks to an initial constellation of at least 24 satellites: an open service (2014), a regulated public service (2016) and a search and rescue service (2014). Other services will be implemented later, including a commercial service combining two encrypted signals for higher data throughput and increased accuracy of authenticated data.

For more information about Galileo:

http://ec.europa.eu/enterprise/policies/satnav/galileo/index_fr.htm