Abstract

RAMOS, Gian Carlo Delgado. Intercapitalist competition in strategic technology and its militarization: the case of the Galileo satellite system. Rev. Sociol. Polit. [online]. 2007, n.29, pp. 105-130. ISSN 0104-4478.  http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/S0104-44782007000200009.

There are three actors identified with scientific and technological development: the Nation state, multinational corporations and knowledge production centers. Their interaction and synergy in favor of the endogenous development of civil and military technology is well-established within metropolitan capitalist states. From the perspective of the synergy of what I have denominated as a "industrial network", we are able to perceive a growing militarization of the "European industrial network" as the result of accentuated intercapitalist rivalry (principally with the United States). I present a sociological evaluation of the role of main actors, as well as key implications and consequences, in general terms, for the militar and defense sectors and specifically for the Galileo satelite system. I also analyze some of the characteristics of the competition between the European Galileo satellite System, the U.S. GPS, the Russian Glonass and the Chinese Beidou systems. I go on to offer a discussion on the role that South America - and Brazil in particular - may play in the development of the Galileo system.

Keywords : Galileo; Glonass; GPS; Beidou; satellite system; aerospace industry; science and technology; European Defense Agency; militarization.