European taxpayers will be footing the bill for the Galileo satellite navigation network.
Europe wants an independent system of global positioning satellites so that it doesn鈥檛 have to rely on others, such as the American GPS network, or Russia鈥檚 Glonass and China鈥檚 nascent Beidou networks, all of which are publicly funded.
To pay for it, the European Commission tried to cajole eight aerospace firms into paying 聙2 billion towards the 聙3.2 billion cost 鈥� with the promise of rich rewards from satnav receiver licences in return.
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However, the eight firms have prevaricated over the investment, fearing Galileo will fall behind as the US and Russian military upgrade their GPS and Glonass systems. So to ensure the project remains on track, the European Union will provide the funds.
