Galileo program governance: New chair of GSA Administrative Board named

Jean-Yves Le Gall (Photo: Liberation)

Meeting on Thursday, June 23, at its headquarters in Prague, the Administrative Board of the European Global Navigation Satellite Systems Agency (GSA) elected its new chair: Jean-Yves Le Gall, Centre National d’Etudes Spatiales (CNES, the French space agency) president and France’s interministerial coordinator for European satellite navigation programmes.

Le Gall succeeds Sabine Dannelke, German federal minister of Transport and Digital Infrastructures.

Headquartered in Prague, GSA is in charge of managing operations of satellite navigation systems on behalf of the European Union since 2014 for the European Geostationary Navigation Overlay Service (EGNOS) and from 2017 for Galileo. Carlo des Dorides is GSA’s executive director.

Commenting on his election, Jean-Yves Le Gall said: “I am most honoured to have been elected Chair today of the GSA Administrative Board, with Galileo now poised to enter its operational phase.

“My election recognizes France’s key role in satellite navigation, reflected in the commitment of the members of the Interministerial Working Group (GTI) and CNES’s historic expertise in this domain, for which it has shown unwavering support for the EGNOS and Galileo programmes since their inception.

“This election and that as Deputy Chair of Mark Bacon, representing the United Kingdom, also confirms EU member states’ desire to join forces through Europe’s Space Team on the cusp of a period that is set to prove most prolific for GSA, since it will be moving Galileo towards full operational capability.

“I would like to thank Sabine Dannelke for her decisive action over the last few years as Chair of the Board, and I very much look forward to working hand in hand with Executive Director Carlo des Dorides and everyone at GSA, whom I know, like and respect.”