GPS History

• The Global Positioning System was developed throughout the 1970s and '80s by the United States Department of Defense. The decision to open GPS use to the public was made during the Reagan administration in 1983 after a navigation mistake led to the Soviets shooting down a Korean passenger plane. In 1995 the U.S. military completed work on the GPS, which at the time consisted of a 24-satellite network. Despite opening the system to public use, the military retained control over the operation of what was the world's only satellite navigation system.
  
  

Galileo History

• The first step in creating Galileo occurred in 1999 when several European countries brought together their individual satellite navigation systems and began collaborating. The European Union and European Space Agency became involved and in 2003 the Galileo project was formally established. Funding issues delayed the production of hardware as well as the more advanced planning for the system. The first test satellite was launched in 2005, with more complex tests carried out in 2008 and 2009.
  
  

Similarities

• Both the GPS and Galileo rely on a fleet of satellites to accurately provide locations on Earth by allowing a satellite navigation device to time the signals coming from various satellites and compute a location through triangulation. The two systems rely on similar technology. In addition, both have some common uses such as navigation for drivers, positioning for aircraft and the measuring of distances and speeds. Galileo and the GPS were developed with hopes of providing convenience and security to their users.
  
  

Differences

• There are several differences between the GPS and Galileo. Some of them are technical in nature, such as the fact that Galileo, when fully functional, will use a group of 30 satellites while the GPS has used as few as 24 satellites. The biggest difference for users of the two systems is the relative control the U.S. military retains over GPS. While Galileo has always been seen as a civilian system that may have use to European military agencies, America's GPS was funded and designed by the military and can be shut down to civilians in times of emergency.
  
  

Integration

• Since both Galileo and GPS cover the entire Earth, the presence of two complementary systems raises a number of issues. There is the obvious advantage that if one system were to fail, users would be able to switch to the other system. The high degree of control by the U.S. military, along with safety concerns in the event of a GPS failure, were motivating factors in the European Union deciding to support the creation of Galileo. American military agencies have voiced concern over Galileo as an unrestricted system that could be used by enemies.