(1)

The financial and legal framework of the Galileo programme was created by Regulation (EC) No 683/2008. Under this Regulation, the European Union is the owner of all tangible and intangible assets created or developed under the programmes, and the Galileo system includes a set of satellites and a global network of ground-based stations.

(2)

Integrated risk management for the evaluation of the implementation of the Galileo programme calls for the programme management to make certain key decisions, i.e. decisions with a major impact on the costs, timetable, performance and/or risks, at an appropriate time and to act transparently with regard to key decisions which remain to be taken and the implementation of those decisions. These key decisions include those relating to the setting-up of ground-based infrastructure in the development and validation phase and in the deployment phase.

(3)

The global network of ground-based stations as part of the Galileo programme includes six centres and one station, on the one hand, and four series of ‘remote’ stations on the other.

(4)

The six ground-based centres and the station comprise: two mutually redundant centres to control the general operation of the system (hereinafter referred to as ‘control centres’ or ‘GCCs’); the Galileo Security Centre mentioned in Article 16 of Regulation (EC) No 683/2008, which monitors the security of the system and the services provided and which is split in two for reasons of continuity of service (hereinafter referred to as the ‘Galileo Security Centre’ or ‘GSMC’); the service centre which acts as the interface between the system, on the one side, and the users of the open service, the commercial service and the Safety of Life Service (hereinafter known as the ‘GNSS service centre’ or the ‘GSC’) on the other; the centre which controls the generation of the information necessary for the operation of the Search and Rescue Service and which provides the interface between the system and the COSPAS-SARSAT system (hereinafter referred to as the ‘SAR service centre’); the centre which, on behalf of the programme manager and independently of the user, evaluates the quality of the services provided and communicates time and geodetic references to the user communities (hereinafter referred to as the ‘Galileo performance centre’); the station which allows the quality of the signals emitted by satellites in orbit immediately after their launch to be verified (hereinafter referred to as the ‘in-orbit-testing station’).

(5)

The choice of location for these centres and stations must take into account the possible presence of existing installations and equipment suitable for the relevant tasks, and must respect the security needs of each centre and station, technical and budgetary constraints and the national security requirements of each Member State.

(6)

The four series of ‘remote’ stations comprise: the remote control and telemetry stations which, by means of uplinks and downlinks, act as relays between the satellites and the two control stations (hereinafter known as ‘TTC stations’); the Galileo survey stations which, to allow the provision of services, carry out pseudo-distance measuring and collect the signals sent by the satellites to monitor their quality (hereinafter referred to as ‘GSS stations’); satellite upload stations, which upload to the satellites the data necessary for the provision of services (hereinafter referred to as ‘ULS stations’); stations to collect the data necessary for the operation of the Search and Rescue Service (hereinafter referred to as ‘SaR stations’).

(7)

The choice of location for these remote stations must take into account geographical and technical limitations associated with their optimum distribution around the globe, the possible presence of existing installations and equipment suitable for the relevant tasks, and must respect the security needs of each station and the national security requirements of each Member State. As this choice is subject to change depending on progress made in the programmes, their needs and the development of political or logistical requirements, the stated number and location of the remote stations still to be set up can, at this stage, only be indicative.

(8)

It is therefore important to set key decision points for the evaluation of progress made in the setting-up of the Galileo global network of ground-based stations.

(9)

The measures provided for in this Decision are in accordance with the opinion of the Committee set up by Article 19(1) of Regulation (EC) No 683/2008,