The agreement between the European Space Agency and the Canadian Space Agency, signed Tuesday in Paris, specifies that Ottawa will contribute up to 11 million dollars (8.3 million US dollars) to the project.

"Galileo's new generation of navigation services will also benefit Canadians in such areas as air and sea traffic control, ground transportation, crime prevention, urban planning, agriculture and fisheries," CSA President Marc Garneau, a former astronaut, said in a statement.

The program will be launched in 2006 and will be fully deployed in 2008. Galileo will use up to 30 satellites in medium-Earth orbit and will be supported by ground stations across the globe, according to the CSA.

SPACE.WIRE