The European Commission said it is seeking the go-ahead from the EU's 25 member states to invite Ukraine to join the Galileo programme

The European Commission said it is seeking the go-ahead from the EU's 25 member states to invite Ukraine to join the Galileo programme to develop and launch a GPS navigation satellite. In a statement, the commission said it hopes to start talks with Ukraine at the end of this month. "The Ukrainian space industry is among the world leaders in the design and production of launchers and components" for navigational satellite systems, it said. Similar Galileo co-operation deals have already been signed with China and Israel, and talks are under way with India, Russia, South Korea, Mexico and Australia, it said. Galileo is due to come on stream from 2008, using some 30 satellites, and will be financed by European public and private funds.