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European Space Parliamentarians Meet In Brussels
Brussels, Belgium (SPX) Jun 16, 2006 Parliamentarians from 10 European countries met this week at the 8th European Interparliamentary Space Conference to discuss space policy. The conference was organized by the E.U. Belgian Presidency and held at the Belgian Senate in Brussels. Each year the conference brings together members of the European Interparliamentary Space Conference, the EU and ESA member states. Representatives of space agencies in Russia, China and Ukraine also attended the three-day Conference which began Monday. This year's Conference organized presentations and discussions on a variety of topics, including:
- Europe's current space projects, including Galileo and GMES; The conference was chaired by Belgian Senator Fran�ois Roelants du Viviers. On Tuesday, Jean-Jacques Dordain, w ESA's Director General, and Paul Weissenberg, representing the European Commission's vice president and Enterprise Commissioner Verheugen, addressed the EISC respectively on ESA's and the commission's views on European space policy. The discussion topics at the conference were related to a number of important decisions regarding Europe's future in space. For example, European Union is in the process of finalizing its Financial Perspective 2007-2013, in which space has been assigned a budget 1.43 billion euros (1.8 billion dollars). In addition, under the 7th Framework Program for Research and Technology, ESA and the European Commission - together with their member states - are preparing the European Space Policy, which is due to be reviewed and endorsed by the Space Council in the first half of 2007. Delegates also discussed the European space industry, which is undergoing a restructuring expected to lead to a reduction in the number of main players. The EISC, founded in 1999 by parliamentary groups from France, Germany, Italy and the United Kingdom, shares information about space activities to increase understanding of national policies and priorities in space, as well as space awareness among decision makers, and to review the challenges space offers Europe in a worldwide context. EISC gives political and institutional managers an opportunity to assess, together, the impact of space technologies on the daily lives of Europe's citizens and the future of industrial expertise in space programs. The Conference issues recommendations and adopts resolutions. Its members favor close cooperation through joint activities between the EC and ESA, national space agencies, scientists and industry to increase Europe's space know-how. The EISC is preparing an international workshop at Europe's Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana, beginning Sept. 19. The workshop, organized with the support of ESA, CNES and Arianespace, will cover space, defense and security and will be attended by national representatives of the Western European Union, NATO, European space institutions, industry and specialists in European strategy for defense and security. Related Links ESA EISC
Atmel and u-blox Introduce High Sensitivity Low Power Single-Chip GPS Receiver Heilbronn, Germany (SPX) Jun 16, 2006 Atmel and u-blox AG have announced the availability of their latest weak-signal tracking GPS technology in an ultra-small form factor. The new single-chip ATR0635 measures just 7 x 10 mm, and integrates a complete ANTARIS 4 GPS receiver including ROM-based SuperSense software in a 96-pin BGA package. |
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