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What’s new: Canada formally increasing ties with Europe, perhaps as the EU’s first Associate Member. Closer cooperation and upgraded access to Galileo will be a part of this.
Why it’s Important: It is another confirmation that (1) Galileo is superior in many ways to GPS, and (2) Canada and the U.S. are becoming more estranged.
What else to know:
- While not mentioned in this article, Canada’s government has recently focused much more on its geodesy and PNT needs.
- That pesky $1B/day number cropped up again. It is far too low, but just won’t go away!
Canada Opens Formal Talks on Galileo Access as Arctic GPS Accuracy Degrades to 1 Kilometer
Ottawa seeks Galileo encrypted access as Arctic GPS accuracy falls below one mile
Canada signed two landmark space agreements at the 21st Canada-EU Summit in Montreal on Friday, opening formal negotiations to access Galileo’s government-grade encrypted navigation signal for the first time — a signal engineered to resist the jamming and spoofing that makes ordinary GPS a liability in a contested environment. The Canadian Armed Forces have documented Arctic GPS positional error reaching 1 kilometer (0.62 miles) in the high Arctic, where low satellite elevation angles degrade the system that underpins $1 billion in daily economic activity.
The agreements, signed by Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly and EU Commissioner for Defence and Space Andrius Kubilius under the broader Canada-EU Alliance for the Future, formalize two parallel tracks: negotiations toward a framework for Canadian access to Galileo services — including the Public Regulated Service, Galileo’s encrypted, anti-spoofing government signal — and exploratory talks on an administrative arrangement covering Canada’s potential involvement in IRIS², the EU’s €15.6 billion next-generation secure satellite constellation (approximately $17.47 billion USD).
