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European Children Will Name Galileo Satellites Constellation
BRUSSELS, September 1, 2011/PRNewswire/ --
The child with the best drawing related to space or aeronautics in each
Member State will have his or her name given to a satellite of the Galileo
programme. The first two satellites to be launched on 20 October will bear
the names of the winning children from Belgium (Thijs) and Bulgaria
(Natalia) where the competition already took place earlier this year[1].
Today, the European Commission has rolled out the competition in the other
25 Member States to give names to the satellites which will be launched
until 2019. Children aged 9-11 can participate.
European Commission Vice-President Antonio Tajani, responsible for
enterprise and industry policies, said: "With satellite navigation, space
exploration, and space observation, the topic of space is of ever increasing
importance for citizens and for our economic future. We wish to incite the
creativity of children, and for them to become enthusiastic about space and
its opportunities from a young age. We reward this creativity with the
unique opportunity - of offering 27 children the chance to give a satellite
their name."
From 1 September to 15 November, children living in the EU and born in
2000, 2001 and 2002 - when the Galileo programme started - are invited to
make a drawing related to space and aeronautics, scan it or take a digital
photograph of it and upload it onto the competition's website. In each
country, a national jury will select the best drawing and the winning child
will have his or her name given to one of the satellites of the Galileo
constellation. Satellites launches will take place regularly as of 2012
until the full constellation (which should count 30 satellites) is complete.
The order in which the names of the children will be given to the satellites
is determined by the alphabetical order of the member states written in the
national language(s).
The competition is being announced in each Member State through press
releases and press conferences, mailings to schools, teachers associations
and educational portals. This should also help generate interest and give
teachers material for covering the topic of space and satellite navigation
in their class.
The competition can be accessed at http://www.galileocontest.eu.
Background
The Galileo Programme is Europe's own venture into the field of
satellite navigation. It is putting in place a global satellite navigation
system similar to GPS. With the ever growing importance of satellite
navigation applications for both businesses and citizens, Galileo will
ensure the independence of Europe in this important domain, securing the
availability of those applications.
Galileo is expected to deliver EUR90 billion to the European economy
over a period of 20 years in terms of additional revenues for industry and
in terms of public and social benefits, not counting the benefit of
independence.
Galileo will provide three early services as of 2014/2016 based on an
initial constellation of minimum 24 satellites: an initial Open Service
(2014), an initial Public Regulated Service
[http://europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=IP/10/1301&format=HTML&aged=0&language=EN&guiLanguage=en ]
(2016) and an initial
Search-and-Rescue Service (2014). Further services to follow later will
include a Commercial Service combining two encrypted signals for higher data
throughput rate and higher accuracy authenticated data.
For more information about Galileo:
http://ec.europa.eu/enterprise/policies/satnav/galileo
1. Competition for Belgium
[http://ec.europa.eu/enterprise/newsroom/cf/itemlongdetail.cfm?item_idR84&lang=en ]
Competition for Bulgaria
[http://ec.europa.eu/enterprise/newsroom/cf/itemlongdetail.cfm?item_idR21&lang=en ]
Source: The European Commission
Contacts: Carlo Corazza, +32-2-295-17-52; Andrea Maresi, +32-2-299-04-03
European Children Will Name Galileo Satellites Constellation
BRUSSELS, September 1, 2011/PRNewswire/ --
The child with the best drawing related to space or aeronautics in each
Member State will have his or her name given to a satellite of the Galileo
programme. The first two satellites to be launched on 20 October will bear
the names of the winning children from Belgium (Thijs) and Bulgaria
(Natalia) where the competition already took place earlier this year[1].
Today, the European Commission has rolled out the competition in the other
25 Member States to give names to the satellites which will be launched
until 2019. Children aged 9-11 can participate.
European Commission Vice-President Antonio Tajani, responsible for
enterprise and industry policies, said: "With satellite navigation, space
exploration, and space observation, the topic of space is of ever increasing
importance for citizens and for our economic future. We wish to incite the
creativity of children, and for them to become enthusiastic about space and
its opportunities from a young age. We reward this creativity with the
unique opportunity - of offering 27 children the chance to give a satellite
their name."
From 1 September to 15 November, children living in the EU and born in
2000, 2001 and 2002 - when the Galileo programme started - are invited to
make a drawing related to space and aeronautics, scan it or take a digital
photograph of it and upload it onto the competition's website. In each
country, a national jury will select the best drawing and the winning child
will have his or her name given to one of the satellites of the Galileo
constellation. Satellites launches will take place regularly as of 2012
until the full constellation (which should count 30 satellites) is complete.
The order in which the names of the children will be given to the satellites
is determined by the alphabetical order of the member states written in the
national language(s).
The competition is being announced in each Member State through press
releases and press conferences, mailings to schools, teachers associations
and educational portals. This should also help generate interest and give
teachers material for covering the topic of space and satellite navigation
in their class.
The competition can be accessed at http://www.galileocontest.eu.
Background
The Galileo Programme is Europe's own venture into the field of
satellite navigation. It is putting in place a global satellite navigation
system similar to GPS. With the ever growing importance of satellite
navigation applications for both businesses and citizens, Galileo will
ensure the independence of Europe in this important domain, securing the
availability of those applications.
Galileo is expected to deliver EUR90 billion to the European economy
over a period of 20 years in terms of additional revenues for industry and
in terms of public and social benefits, not counting the benefit of
independence.
Galileo will provide three early services as of 2014/2016 based on an
initial constellation of minimum 24 satellites: an initial Open Service
(2014), an initial Public Regulated Service
[http://europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=IP/10/1301&format=HTML&aged=0&language=EN&guiLanguage=en ]
(2016) and an initial
Search-and-Rescue Service (2014). Further services to follow later will
include a Commercial Service combining two encrypted signals for higher data
throughput rate and higher accuracy authenticated data.
For more information about Galileo:
http://ec.europa.eu/enterprise/policies/satnav/galileo
1. Competition for Belgium
[http://ec.europa.eu/enterprise/newsroom/cf/itemlongdetail.cfm?item_idR84&lang=en ]
Competition for Bulgaria
[http://ec.europa.eu/enterprise/newsroom/cf/itemlongdetail.cfm?item_idR21&lang=en ]
Source: The European Commission
Contacts: Carlo Corazza, +32-2-295-17-52; Andrea Maresi, +32-2-299-04-03