May 19, 2026 / 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. / Lecture Hall I, Poppelsdorf Campus (Friedrich-Hirzebruch-Allee 5, 53115 Bonn)

Global navigation systems such as GPS, Galileo, GLONASS, and BeiDou not only enable the navigation of vehicles and aircraft. They are also essential for precise time stamps in financial systems, for energy and communications networks, and for security-related applications. Whoever controls these signals controls entire social and economic structures.

This session deals with the strategic, technological, and political dimensions of satellite-based navigation and time synchronization. The focus is on Galileo—Europe's civil GNSS—and its growing importance for European autonomy. What are the technological features that distinguish Galileo? Where does the system have advantages over GPS and other systems? And how can Galileo be further developed and protected against interference?

It will also look at future applications such as autonomous mobility, high-precision synchronization in 6G networks, and new timing services in critical infrastructures. The discussion will focus on how Europe can use Galileo not only to keep up technologically, but also to think strategically ahead – and why sovereign navigation is a key geopolitical resource in the 21st century.

The event is being held in cooperation with the German Aerospace Center (DLR), the Federation of German Industries (BDI), the German Armed Forces Space Command, the Society for Security Policy (GSP), the Konrad Adenauer Foundation (KAS), the German Council on Foreign Relations (DGAP), the Research Network for Security and Technology in Space (SichTRaum), the Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom (FNF), the Bonn/Rhein-Sieg Chamber of Industry and Commerce (IHK Bonn-Rhein-Sieg), the Bonn Adult Education Center, and the ASTRA student association.

Welcome:

Dr. Enrico Fels

Managing Director of the Center for Advanced Security, Strategic and Integration Studies (CASSIS)

Lecture followed by discussion:

Dr. Alexander Weiß

Head of the Navigation Division at the German Aerospace Center (DLR)