The heads of Europe's two biggest satellite prime contractors urged the European Commission to accelerate its procurement of the Galileo satellite navigation system or face what might become politically unacceptable delays in getting the service started. Attending an information conference of European Union space ministers here July 20-22, the chief executives of Astrium Satellites and Thales Alenia Space said the current Galileo procurement process, which began July 1 and is scheduled to continue through May 2009, is unnecessarily slow. "The procurement has been substantially delayed and this schedule introduces more delays," said Evert Dudok, chief executive of Astrium Satellites. "We need procurement decisions in 2008 to keep to the service introduction date." Dudok made his remarks here July 21 during a tour of Europe's Guiana Space Center spaceport as part of a delegation that included French Research Minister Valerie Pecresse and Eu-ropean Commission Vice President Guenter Verheugen.
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