A new Galileo ground station, the European satellite positioning network, was put into service a few weeks ago in the Kerguelen Islands, announces the administration of the French Southern and Antarctic Lands. The Galileo system makes the European Union autonomous in the field of satellite positioning, against its American competitors (GPS), Russian (Glonass) and Chinese (Beidou).Stations already exist in several overseas departments and territories (Guyana, New Caledonia, Meeting, Saint Pierre and Miquelon, Tahiti, Wallis and Futuna). A first temporary Galileo station was set up in Kerguelen in 2012. The project for a sustainable station was launched in 2019 by Europe, who invested 2 million euros in the project. Its construction mobilized nearly 60 French and European technical and administrative staff between the southern winter of 2020 and September 2021..
