30 years of satellite navigation: ESA documentary tells the story of Galileo
How Europe built its own navigation system: ESA has released the documentary “Finding Our Way: Inside the Galileo Project” on YouTube – featuring almost 20 interviewees.
Photo: European Space Agency / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO (cropped and resized)
Video: YouTube · European Space Agency, ESA · youtube.com
The European Space Agency ESA has released a documentary about Europe's Galileo satellite navigation system. “Finding Our Way: Inside the Galileo Project” premiered on ESA's YouTube channel on 15 October. ESA commissioned the film to mark 30 years of satellite navigation in Europe; it was directed by Johannes Walden of Design & Data.
The film is divided into three parts: it looks at the historical and political context in which Galileo emerged, the technical, political and organisational challenges of building an independent European system, and where satellite navigation stands today and where it is heading. Almost 20 people were interviewed for the production, including Javier Benedicto and Marco Falcone; filming took place at ESA's ESTEC centre, among other locations.
In an ESA interview, Walden said independence is one of the key ideas of European technology in the future. He sums up the film's message like this: everything we do in space helps us in our daily lives.