A German/UK consortium has been asked to supply the first operational spacecraft for Europe's Galileo satellite-navigation system.

一家德英合资公司获准为欧盟伽利略卫星导航系统提供第一批运行航天器。

Sat-nav will become ubiquitous in mobile phones

OHB System and Surrey Satellite Technology Limited (SSTL) will build 14 satellites in a contract valued at 566m euros ($811m; £510m).

The contract was announced by the European Commission in Brussels布鲁塞尔.

Galileo is intended as an EU version of the US Global Positioning System (GPS), but with significant improvements.

Its more advanced technology should give users quicker, more reliable fixes, and enable them to locate their positions with an error of one metre compared with the current GPS error of several metres.

European Commission vice-president with responsibility for transport, Antonio Tajani, also announced contracts to purchase购买 the rockets on which to launch the satellites, and system management to oversee¹ the Galileo project implementation执行，实现.

"With this and the upcoming awards for the remaining procurement²获得，采购 packages, we are concluding a critical phase of the Galileo programme," he said.

"We can now focus on the actual roll-out and demonstrate to European citizens that Europe's own satellite-navigation system is firmly underway."

Flight pairs

The total value of the contracts announced on Thursday is just over one billion euros. The contracts mean Galileo, which has been much delayed, should finally become operational in early 2014.

"Our schedule has the satellites rolling off the end of the production line in the second half of 2012," said Phil Davies from SSTL.

"We then fall into a steady state where we produce a satellite every six weeks or so. The first two will be ready for launch in October 2012," he told BBC News.

Arianespace of France will launch the spacecraft. The value of its contract amounts to 397m euros ($569m; £358m).

Arianespace will use Russian-built Soyuz rockets initially³ to send up the spacecraft in batches⁴成批，分批 of two.

By early 2014, it is thought there could be up to 16 spacecraft in the Galileo network, enough to make a significant difference to sat-nav卫星导航 users with Galileo and GPS-enabled receivers.

Thales Alenia Space of Italy has been asked to provide the system support to pull the whole project together. Its contract is valued at 85m euros ($122m; £77m).