NGPS Novatel (MM)

NovAtel Inc. (NASDAQ:NGPS), a precise positioning technology company, announced the release of its first production standard Galileo-ready receiver and antenna. NovAtel's new L1L5E5a receiver offers superior 16 channel tracking of GPS L1/L5, Galileo L1/E5a and SBAS signals in a Euro form-factor card, packaged in a EuroPak enclosure. The complementary 704X passive antenna offers access to multiple Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) including GPS, Galileo and GLONASS frequencies. Currently, the Galileo functionality of the L1L5E5a receiver is available only to customers authorized by the European Space Agency (ESA), due to an intense test campaign that ESA is conducting with GIOVE-A, the first Galileo test satellite launched December 28, 2005. "The EuroPak-L1L5E5a receiver is ideally suited for customers, such as government agencies and universities, who want early access to the new GPS GEO L1 and L5 satellite signals and Galileo L1 and E5a signals for research purposes," said Tony Murfin, NovAtel's VP Business Development. "Our L1L5E5a receivers, which were initially developed under contract with the Canadian Space Agency, were first demonstrated in May 2005 and have undergone engineering testing. I am very pleased that NovAtel is able to offer a production standard Galileo-ready receiver at this early date." "NovAtel's new 704X passive antenna has been designed and qualified to operate over a number of operational satellite navigation bands, including GPS, Galileo, GLONASS and L-band. This antenna is one of the very earliest on the market to be designed with the capability to pick up signals from all of these available satellite navigation systems, and is intended for use with the L1L5E5a receiver," continued Mr. Murfin. "The 704X wideband passive antenna expands NovAtel's patented Pinwheel(TM) technology for excellent multipath rejection and phase center stability." Galileo is the European Union's state-of-the-art GNSS system, which is expected to be fully operable by 2008 with up to 30 satellites orbiting the earth. It is designed for both civilian and government purposes and will be controlled and operated by civil management. The Galileo system is planned to be composed of: a constellation of 30 satellites; a number of globally located ground stations; and a ground control and monitoring system - similar to GPS. Development of the Galileo system has been underway since 2001. About NovAtel NovAtel designs, markets and sells high-precision GPS and other positioning components and sub-systems used in a wide variety of commercial applications principally in the aviation, geomatics (surveying and mapping), mining, precision agriculture, marine and defence industries. NovAtel is also the principal supplier of reference receivers to national aviation ground networks in the US, Japan, Europe, China and India. NovAtel's solutions combine hardware, such as receivers and antennas, with software to enable its customers to fully integrate the Company's high-precision GPS technology into their respective products and systems. NovAtel, an ISO 9001 certified company, is focused on supplying core high-precision positioning technology to OEMs and system integrators who build systems for various end market applications. For more information, visit www.novatel.com. Certain statements in this news release, including those about the Company's future plans and intentions, future performance and market acceptance of its Galileo technology and expected shipments into the Galileo system, are forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are not based on historical facts but rather on management's current expectations regarding NovAtel's future growth, results of operations, performance, future capital and other expenditures, competitive advantages, business prospects and opportunities. Wherever possible, words such as "anticipate", "believe", "expect", "may", "could", "will", "potential", "intend", "estimate", "should", "plan", "predict", "forecast" or the negative or other variations of these words, or similar words or phrases, have been used to identify these forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements involve significant known and unknown risks, uncertainties and assumptions. Many factors could cause actual results, performance or achievements to differ materially from the results discussed or implied in the forward-looking statements, including operating results of the Company's joint venture Point, Inc. ("Point"), impact and timing of large orders, U.S. dollar to Canadian dollar exchange rate fluctuations, establishing and maintaining effective distribution channels, timely launch of new products, certification and market acceptance of NovAtel's new products, impact and timing of large orders, credit risks of customers and the Company's joint venture Point, pricing pressures in the market and other competitive factors, maintaining technological leadership, timing of revenue recognition in connection with certain contracts, the ability to maintain supply of products from subcontract manufacturers, the procurement of components to build products, product defects, the impact of industry consolidations, vulnerability to general economic, market and business conditions, competition, environmental and other actions by governmental authorities, reliance on key personnel and other factors described in the Company's Form 20-F for the year ended December 31, 2004 and other SEC filings, many of which are beyond the control of NovAtel. These factors should be considered carefully and undue reliance should not be placed on the forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are made as of the date of this news release, and NovAtel assumes no obligation to update or revise them to reflect new events or circumstances. NOVATEL INC. (Nasdaq:NGPS)