Telespazio will manage the new Galileo Information Center (GIC) in Latin America

(To Telespazio)
18/03/21

Telespazio Ibérica, the Spanish subsidiary of Telespazio - a joint venture between Leonardo (67%) and Thales (33%) - will lead the consortium in charge of managing the new Galileo Information Center (GIC) for Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean. The Center will be located in Mexico City with training facilities in Querétaro (Mexico).

Telespazio Ibérica will manage the GIC by coordinating a team made up of European and local industrial and institutional partners such as Everis, Enaire, Geotecnologías, and important universities such as the Universidad Politécnica de Madrid and the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México.

The new Galileo Information Center, co-financed by the Directorate-General for Defense Industry and Space (DG DEFIS) of the European Commission for 36 months, expands the network of Galileo information centers in Latin America and joins the other two centers already present in Chile and Brazil, active since November 2019.

The objective of the new structure is to support the European Commission in the promotion activities of the Galileo space program and facilitate its diffusion in Latin America. The Center, in fact, will work to increase attention on the European satellite navigation program in the region as well as to promote, at various levels, cooperation on the Galileo and EGNOS programs between the EU space ecosystem and the main players in the area.

In detail, the team led by Telespazio Ibérica will study the development of local GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite System) markets, monitoring regional satellite navigation initiatives and key stakeholders to understand the market potential of Galileo and EGNOS. The Center will also provide communication, promotion and training activities adapted to regional specificities.

All the members of the consortium have solid experience in the development of systems and applications in the Galileo and EGNOS fields and can count on a historical and consolidated presence in the region, able to facilitate the promotion of these programs in an area of ​​177 million. of inhabitants with largely untapped market potential.

"Telespazio Iberica already plays a key role within the Galileo Service Center (GSC) in Madrid, where it operates on behalf of Spaceopal (a JV between Telespazio and the German Space Agency DLR) as part of the contract with the GSA for Galileo Service Operator (GSOp). We have chosen to co-finance this project with DG DEFIS to promote Galileo in Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean, considering the presence in such an important region as a strategic element of great value both for promoting the use and applications offered by Galileo and for the opportunity it represents for the Telespazio group ", said Miguel Bermudo, Chief Executive Officer of Telespazio Ibérica.