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Let's be clear, it's essentially a redundant backup system, a contingency plan. It is needed for the (unlikely but possible) scenario if GPS becomes hostile/una

Let's be clear, it's essentially a redundant backup system, a contingency plan. It is needed for the (unlikely but possible) scenario if GPS becomes hostile/unaccessible to EU for some political reason, and to prevent its access to be used as leverage for something. It does not need to be "hot failover" - such things don't change that quickly. You might put up a few more dishes and satellites if that need actually becomes imminent in some future, but as you say, for now it's fulfilling its purpose.

GekkePrutser 6y ago
But I'm a situation where GPS or Glonass would be considered 'hostile', there would also be the possibility of them being shot down which is not possible to defend against. Galileo is also for trade reasons, so that reduced access can't be threatened. And it's also a military tool, after all GPS had been on reduced accuracy for a long time and this could happen again. And keeping an active technology development of such a vital infrastructure in house. And for the consumer it's all great as most receivers can combine all these networks into improved accuracy.
- bigiain 6y ago
  > But I'm a situation where GPS or Glonass would be considered 'hostile', there would also be the possibility of them being shot down which is not possible to defend against. Sounds like "the hostiles" wouldn't actually need orbital shoot down capability, they'd just need to knock out a bunch of those 20 ground stations. A team of guys with consumer drones and a half a kg of C4 each ought to be enough I'd guess. That's only "criminal gang" grade opponents, not even close to state level. (Or, you know, a bunch of random conspiracy nut QAnons or ProudBoys wound up on social media to believe the ground stations cause Covid or are part of a Jewish global banking conspiracy...)
  - GekkePrutser 6y ago
    Good point! But I suppose those uplinks could be hardened in times of war.
  - kryptiskt 6y ago
    There the somewhat absurd ground station locations like Troll and Kerguelen helps. No one can go there on a whim.
  - jccooper 6y ago
    In a "hot" situation, the ground segment is, well, "vulnerable" doesn't quite cut it. EU power projection isn't vaguely close to enough to protect all those far-flung islands that make the system work. But there are "cold" scenarios where bombing ground stations wouldn't be kosher but denying GNSS services might be. That's what Galileo insures against. I don't think those scenarios are particularly likely, so it's awful pricey insurance, but it's also a very important capability so opinions may differ.
est31 6y ago
Yeah already the fact that support is built into receivers and that the frequencies are staked are very helpful.

GekkePrutser 6y ago

But I'm a situation where GPS or Glonass would be considered 'hostile', there would also be the possibility of them being shot down which is not possible to defend against. Galileo is also for trade reasons, so that reduced access can't be threatened. And it's also a military tool, after all GPS had been on reduced accuracy for a long time and this could happen again. And keeping an active technology development of such a vital infrastructure in house. And for the consumer it's all great as most receivers can combine all these networks into improved accuracy.

bigiain 6y ago
> But I'm a situation where GPS or Glonass would be considered 'hostile', there would also be the possibility of them being shot down which is not possible to defend against. Sounds like "the hostiles" wouldn't actually need orbital shoot down capability, they'd just need to knock out a bunch of those 20 ground stations. A team of guys with consumer drones and a half a kg of C4 each ought to be enough I'd guess. That's only "criminal gang" grade opponents, not even close to state level. (Or, you know, a bunch of random conspiracy nut QAnons or ProudBoys wound up on social media to believe the ground stations cause Covid or are part of a Jewish global banking conspiracy...)
- GekkePrutser 6y ago
  Good point! But I suppose those uplinks could be hardened in times of war.
- kryptiskt 6y ago
  There the somewhat absurd ground station locations like Troll and Kerguelen helps. No one can go there on a whim.
- jccooper 6y ago
  In a "hot" situation, the ground segment is, well, "vulnerable" doesn't quite cut it. EU power projection isn't vaguely close to enough to protect all those far-flung islands that make the system work. But there are "cold" scenarios where bombing ground stations wouldn't be kosher but denying GNSS services might be. That's what Galileo insures against. I don't think those scenarios are particularly likely, so it's awful pricey insurance, but it's also a very important capability so opinions may differ.

est31 6y ago

Yeah already the fact that support is built into receivers and that the frequencies are staked are very helpful.