The European Union decided to expand the GSA last year. It is responsible for managing the Galileo navigation system and is the only EU agency based in the Czech Republic. The Agency should re-associate the operational management of all European Union space programs. At the same time, it should be renamed the Space Program Agency.

The expansion of the agency is expected to significantly increase the number of staff. The GSA anticipates that it will now be necessary to provide space for up to six hundred people. It is therefore advisable to obtain suitable premises and capacity. The main alternative currently being solved is a significant expansion of the capacity of the existing headquarters in Holešovice, for which the Ministry of Finance is preparing a feasibility study. In addition to new offices, new meeting rooms, laboratories and other spaces are needed.

The GSA is discussing the procedure for expanding the agency jointly with the Ministry of Transport, the Ministry of Finance, the Office of the Government and also the security authorities. The memorandum being prepared for this purpose by the state and the Agency should, inter alia, provide for additional support for staff as well as training, including for their family members.

Billions in budgets

The Agency for the European Global Navigation System has been based in Prague for eight years and has contributed over three billion crowns to the Czech budget. Following enlargement, the financial contribution should increase further.

The use of the Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) is expanding worldwide. In 2014, approximately 3.6 billion devices using satellite navigation were in operation, and by 2019 this number should rise to seven billion. This means that there will be one GNSS device for every inhabitant of the Earth.

The use of the Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) is expanding around the world, adding ways to use it to improve the lives of ordinary people. There is a whole range of devices using GNSS services and applications, the dominant position is occupied mainly by smartphones, which are the main segment using services based on the determination of their own location. This is followed by car navigation devices; other devices are no longer so numerous, but millions of people around the world are already dependent on GNSS applications, especially in such fields as transport, agriculture, targeting and critical infrastructure.

In agriculture, the application is relatively simple – and all the more effective. Satellite data can help produce more food, more efficiently and more cheaply. The biggest benefits are fuel savings, as satellite data can guide agricultural machines more efficiently. Fields are also better targeted, crop developments can be evaluated and plans can be changed accordingly.